I Hate Love
by ThirteenLemons
Summary: Due to her last relationship being a disaster, Elena Gilbert promised to never fall in love again. But when she meets Damon Salvatore, Elena finds herself slowly breaking her promise - AU/AH.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I know what you're thinking! **_**Another new story, is she crazy?**_** I just couldn't get this idea out of my head and I really wanted to write this story. So, here it is. Chapter one.**

**Enjoy.**

Mondays. Who actually likes Mondays? Monday is so far away from Friday yet so close to Sunday – the day your life has to begin all over again.

As I begin my morning routine of getting ready for work, I notice the long faint scar across my stomach. The scar that holds so many bad memories that I can never forget thanks to it.

I used to be in a loving relationship. Every person I met told me that Mason and I would be together forever… They couldn't have been more wrong.

Mason Lockwood was my charming boyfriend for 3 years. We met at a charity auction where he caught my eye from the moment he walked into the room. We eventually got talking and he asked for my number. 3 days later, he called me and asked me out on date. After that, I found myself going on dates with him every week until one day, he asked me to be his girlfriend.

And so began our relationship. Mason was everything I was looking for in a guy. He was caring, kind, loving, fun and the sex? _Amazing!_

But just over a year into our relationship, Mason lost his job at the local law firm. He began to get desperate in his search for a job. 2 months after he was fired, he told me that he got a new job at another law firm. I was so happy for him that I didn't think to question it at the time. Until I realised that there was only one major law firm in Chicago – the one Mason was fired from.

When I questioned Mason about it, he got really angry. He told me to stay out of business and hit me across the cheek before storming out of the apartment we shared. That was the first time that I should have left him. But later that night he came back and begged for my forgiveness – which I stupidly gave to him.

Mason started to become cold and distant to me. He stopped asking questions about my day, he stopped holding me when I was upset, he didn't even make love to me anymore and instead gave me a quick fuck whenever he felt like it. He even beat me a few times.

Eventually, I became sick of Mason's behaviour and one day I waited for him to come home. I asked him to change how he treats me before I walk away and he loses me. He started to turn angry – really angry. He hit me a couple times in the stomach until it hurt to stand and I found myself crawling away from him on the kitchen floor. He grabbed me by my ankle and pulled me back to him before reaching over to the kitchen counter and grabbing the biggest knife he could find. He taunted me with it and called me every name under the sun – worthless, slut, bitch, whore.

After nearly half an hour of fearing for my life, Mason plunged the knife deep into my stomach. I have never been in so much pain in my entire life. I screamed until my lungs burned due to my lack of oxygen. After stabbing me, Mason ran out of our apartment and left me there - To die.

After what felt like hours but in reality was only a few minutes, I heard a loud knock on the door followed by a crash. That was the last thing I remember until I woke up in the hospital the next day.

Doctors told me that one of my neighbours heard screams coming from my apartment and called the cops. Police officers broke my apartment door down and found me on the kitchen floor surrounded by blood and as pale as a ghost. Mason was arrested for my attempted murder and also for other charges including drug dealing and theft. Turns out, Mason never had a job at a law firm. He was working for a local gangster, pimp, asshole. Whatever you want to call them. He lied to me for nearly 2 whole years and tried to kill me in the process.

That was the day that I swore to never love again at the ripe age of 23. I promised that I would not put myself in a position where another person had so much power over me that I couldn't see what they were doing was wrong. I would never love another so much that I would do _anything_ for them. Mason was my first and will be my last love.

I'm snapped out of my thoughts by the sound of my doorbell ringing. I open the door to my new apartment that I moved into 5 months ago and find my perky blonde best friend on the other side.

"Good morning!" She sings and pushes her way into my apartment holding two cups of coffee and a brown paper bag.

"Urgh, how can you be so happy in the morning?" I groan and close my front door.

"I'm just happy all of the time." She giggles excitedly and places the coffee and brown bag onto the kitchen counter.

4 months ago, Caroline got a new job as Damon Salvatore's assistant. Damon Salvatore is famous for being a millionaire at only 25 years old. He owns Salvatore's architectural studios and created a fortune for himself.

Caroline says that she loves working there and has never been happier. From what she tells me, Damon is funny but sarcastic. Charming but witty. Caring but selfish. She says that she has become good friends with him these past 4 months which is rich, as I'm her best friend and still haven't met the guy. If I'm honest, I don't really want to. He seems like a huge rich douche to me.

"I come baring gifts." She exclaims and hands me a coffee cup with Starbucks written on the side.

"Thank you Care." I smile and happily accept the cup from her hands. Nothing beats a good cup of coffee in the morning.

"Also…" She holds a finger up to me and hands me the brown paper bag. "Here."

I open the bag sceptically and peek inside. Pecan and cinnamon pastries. My favourite!

I look back up to Caroline and narrow my eyes at her.

"What do you want?"

"What?" She scoffs almost offended. "Can't I bring my best friend breakfast?"

"Yes, but you only bring me pastries when you want something from me. So, I repeat, what do you want?"

Caroline scoffs again but I stand my ground. I cross my arms over my chest and raise an eyebrow. A few moments later she huffs loudly and runs a hand through her hair.

"Okay, fine! I need you to come with me to a party tonight for work." She explains quietly.

"No." I say immediately and take a long gulp of my coffee.

"Why not?" She whines. "It will be fun."

"Fun?" I scoff. "I hardly think spending hours in a room with a bunch of snobby rich people is fun. Caroline, you know that I don't fit in with your other friends. They're rich and posh and I hardly have enough money for the rent this month."

"Please Elena!" She begs. "I need you to be my date. It will only be for a few hours and then I promise that I will never ask you again."

She bats her eyelashes and flashes her baby blues at me which I reply to with a sigh.

"Fine." I grumble and Caroline squeals loudly. "But, when I say I'm leaving I mean it."

"Yeah, yeah, of course." She hugs me tightly before giving me the details for tonight and heading off to her big fancy job.

I finish the rest of my coffee and grab a pastry from the bag on the side. I pick up my car keys from the cabinet in the living room and lock up my apartment before making my way to the garage on the ground floor where I store my car – A little red mini cooper – and drive to work.

I am a social worker that deals with children who have special needs and disabilities in day cares. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the kids that I work with and my job is _so _much fun. But the pay is _terrible._ I have to save up for weeks at a time before I have enough money to even treat myself to a new dress or a day at the spa. But, it's worth it.

I pull into the parking lot of _Willow's day care_ and cut the engine to my car.

"Hey Jenny." I greet the receptionist when I enter the day care.

"Morning Elena. How was your weekend?"

"Eh, it was okay." I shrug.

"Yeah, mine too. Oh, Alex has been asking for you." She smiles and goes back to filing paper work.

As a social worker, it's unprofessional to pick 'favourites', but I have to admit that little Alex Pepperwood has a special place in my heart. Alex is 7 years old and has downs syndrome. His parents spend more time at work than they do with Alex. They drop him at the day care centre at 7AM and pick him up at 8PM. He is seriously here right when we open until we close for the day.

"Lena!" Alex shouts from across the huge playroom we have in the centre and runs at me, crashing into my legs and wrapping his arms around them.

"Hey buddy." I smile and bend down so that I can hug him back.

"I missed you." He pouts and I touch his lip to stop him.

"Stop pouting." I warn teasingly. Alex ignores me and pouts again. I raise an eyebrow and push his lips apart again. Alex giggles before continuing to pout.

"You cheeky monkey!" I giggle and tickle Alex's side which rewards me with his beautiful laugh.

"I want to show you something." He says excitedly and pulls on my hand to drag me over to a small table where he was previously sat.

"Wait a minute buddy. I want to say hello to the other kids first. Can you wait a few minutes?" I ask. Alex frowns and lets go of my hand before nodding disappointedly.

"Hey." I place my hand under his chin so that he's looking at me. "I promise to be there soon." I hold my pinkie finger out at him which makes him smile and he wraps his pinkie around mine.

"Promise." He nods and runs over to the table that he was planning to lead me to.

I head over to another small table in the corner where I see Millie Banners colouring in a colouring book.

"_Good morning Millie."_ I sign. Millie was born deaf and her parents had to learn sign language and then teach Millie so that they could communicate. Now, at just 5 years old, Millie is amazing at communicating using sign language.

"_Hello Elena." _She signs back and gives me a small smile.

"_Are you doing okay today?" _I ask.

"_Yes, mommy helped me to read a book this morning." _She replies and gives me a smug look.

"_She did? That's amazing Millie!" _I beam and pat her cheek affectionately.

I spend the next 10 minutes moving around the room and speaking to children before making sure to keep my promise and finding Alex.

"I'm ready." I announce and sit down on one of the small chairs that we have especially for the children.

"I wanted to show you this." Alex says and passes me a picture that he drew. It's a picture of two people holding hands and has my name underneath one of the people and Alex's under the other.

"Oh wow, this is amazing Alex. You did this?" I ask and Alex's nods his head shyly.

"Do you like it?" He asks quietly and nervously plays with his thumbs.

"I love it!"

"You can keep it." He says and pushes the picture against my chest.

"Are you sure?"

"Yep." He nods his head quickly and begins to draw on another piece of paper.

I smile at Alex's concentration face. He has his tongue hanging out from his mouth and his face is so close to the paper. I take his hand in mine and fix the crayon that he's holding so that he is holding it correctly. He thanks me and goes back to drawing.

I make a mental note to add this picture on the wall in my apartment that is full of pictures that the children here have drew for me and make my way to the staff room.

"Hey Elena, good weekend?" Another social worker Jenna Sommers asks me when I enter the staff room and hands me a bottle of water.

"Yeah! On Saturday, Caroline dragged me around town for 6 hours and I couldn't even buy anything due to my empty bank account. It was awesome!" I say sarcastically and put my thumbs up which makes Jenna laugh. "What about you, was your weekend just ask crappy as mine?"

"Well…" She pauses and holds up her left hand. A huge _rock_ hanging from her finger catches my eye and I gasp. "Ric proposed!" She squeals and I run over to hug her.

"Oh my God Jenna, I'm so happy for you! When did he propose? Where did he do it? Was it romantic?"

"Woh Elena." She giggles and I release her from my tight hug. "One question at a time. He proposed on Saturday night. He took me to a fancy restaurant and we ordered our food. Suddenly, the lights went out and I started to panic a little because I reached across the table to grab Ric's hand but I couldn't find it. When the lights came on, Ric was down beside me on one knee and holding a blue velvet box with a ring inside. It was the most romantic thing I've ever seen."

"Oh my God." I sigh dreamily before slapping Jenna lightly on the arm.

"What was that for?" She asks.

"That, was for not telling me. He proposed on _Saturday_. Today is _Monday."_

"Well, we spent most of Sunday in bed _not _sleeping so I couldn't find the time to call you." She laughs and I grimace.

"Okay, you know what, I'm glad that you didn't call." I admit and giggle lightly with Jenna.

After Caroline, Jenna would be my next best friend. She's so down to earth and she has to be the warmest person I've ever met. She actually kind of reminds me of my mother before she passed away. She's only a few years older than me and we have so much in common.

I spend the next few hours playing games with the children and catching up with the latest gossip with the other girls who work here before I head home to get ready for the party tonight.

XXX

"Okay, which one?" I ask Caroline and hold up two pair of shoes.

"Oh, the silver ones, definitely." She nods and points to the silver heels in my right hand.

"Are you sure? Do you not think that they're too much? I mean, the black ones are safe."

"No Elena, the silver ones. They go with your dress more."

I look down at my long beige dress with small splashes of silver and have to agree with Care.

"You're right." I throw my black ones back into my room and promise myself to make sure I clean my room later. I slip into the silver ones and grab my clutch bag before following Caroline down to the limousine waiting to take us to the party at Damon Salvatore's mansion.

"This is so fancy." I say, looking around the inside of the limousine and playing with every switch I can find. Windows are moving up and down, air vents are alternating between cold and hot air and the radio is constantly changing stations due to my dicking around.

"Stop." Caroline orders and grabs my hand from the button I'm about to press. "Please Elena, don't embarrass me tonight."

"Wow Care, thanks." I mumble and cross my arms over my chest like a little kid.

"That came out wrong." She apologises. "I just mean, actually think about what you're about to say tonight."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I scoff.

"These are the people I work with Elena. You have a tendency to say _exactly_ what's on your mind, so all I'm asking is for you to not piss anyone off tonight with your snaky comments."

"Hold up Care bear. _You_ invited _me _to this thing. If you're worried that I'm going to _embarrass_ you, why the hell did you beg me to come?"

"Because you're my best friend and I love you. Ever since the thing with Mason, you never just enjoy yourself anymore. Apart from going to work, you hardly leave your apartment." She explains.

"So you tricked me into coming out tonight?"

"No. I wasn't lying when I said that I needed you to be my date. I'd look like such a loser if I show up _completely_ alone."

"You look like a loser anyway." I say and bump my shoulder against Caroline's.

"You look beautiful tonight Elena." Caroline tells me seriously and I smile.

"I know." I say smugly. "I guess you don't need to be a millionaire to look hot."

"Agreed." She says and picks up two glasses of champagne that came with the limousine. She passes me one and we clink glasses before downing the contents in one long gulp.

"Woo!" I cheer loudly and throw my arms up into the air. Caroline bursts out laughing and joins me. We squeal and sing and laugh all the way to the party destination.

10 minutes later, we pull up to the biggest house – sorry _castle_ – that I've ever seen. I gulp nervously when I spot the hundreds of people who look like they've just come for bathing in money and flatten my dress down self-consciously.

"Don't worry 'Lay." Caroline whispers to me and grabs my hand before leading me into the _castle._

Men dressed in tuxedos and women dressed in designer dresses are the first things I notice. Then, I notice the size of the room that Caroline has lead me into. Then I notice the huge glass chandelier dangling from the ceiling right above my head. I stare up at it and pray that it doesn't fall.

The men I see in the room are so yummy. I haven't even been here for a few minutes and I've already spotted 7 guys that I'd happily bone. _Whoops, _I can think like that around fancy people. I've already spotted 7 guys that I'd happily have sweet, tender coitus with. _That's better._

I chuckle to myself at the conversation I'm having in my head and realise that I must look like a freak so immediately stop.

"Elena, this is Fredrick." I hear Caroline say and she points to the man I only just noticed in front of me. _Fredrick - Such a little rich boy name._

"It's a pleasure to meet you." I say in a fake posh voice that earns me an elbow in the ribs from Caroline.

"Likewise dear." Fredrick replies and kisses my knuckles. "I haven't seen you around before. What department do you work in?"

"Oh no, I don't work for this company. I'm actually a social worker in a day care."

Oh, how… interesting." He finishes and I show a fake smile. "And how much do you earn doing what you do?"

"Wow, that's kind of personal." I mumble and Caroline pokes me in the ribs.

"She's just kidding." She laughs at Fredrick before giving me a pleading look.

"Erm, around two thousand a month." I work out quickly and tell Fredrick.

"Two hundred thousand a month seems quite reasonable." He nods and I laugh loudly.

"No, not two _hundred _thousand. Just two thousand."

"Oh." He says and frowns.

"I bet you're sorry that you asked now, huh?" I whisper to him.

"Okay!" Caroline announces suddenly. "Well we're going to go and mingle now Fredrick. It was wonderful seeing you again."

"Yes, you too Caroline dear." He smiles to Caroline and ignores me completely. Care grabs my hand and leads me away from Fredrick and over to the bar.

"What the hell Elena? You didn't have to be so rude." She cries.

"Wha… me? That guy was a total asshole." I say loudly and it earns me a few gasps from the people around us at the bar.

Caroline sighs loudly and runs a hand through her hair in frustration. She opens her mouth to say something else but is interrupted by the clinking of a glass. We both turn in the direction that the sound came from and see a figure stood on the upstairs balcony and looking down to all the guests.

_Holy shit! _This guy is gorgeous! The things I would do to him! I would destroy him. He has black raven hair and is wearing a tuxedo that shows off the muscles in his arms. _And what nice muscles they are._

"Hello everyone. I want to thank you all for coming." He speaks for the first time and his voice is like silk. I don't think I can actually look at him any longer in fear of orgasming right here and now in front of all these people… But I can't look away either.

"I am so glad you could all join me in celebrating 4 years of Salvatore Architectural studios." People around begin to clap in celebration and I find myself still drooling a little over the hot guy.

"Who is that?" I whisper to Caroline behind me and she laughs lightly.

"That's Damon." She replies rather obviously.

_This _is Damon Salvatore. Sweet. Baby. Jesus. He must be crafted by the God's themselves.

I realise that Damon has finished speaking and is making his way down the huge spiral staircase.

"Look, Elena, I need to go and speak to some people. Will you behave for a few minutes?" She asks desperately and I sigh.

"Yes mom." She gives me a warning look before worming her way through people and disappearing into a crowd.

I signal the bartender over with my hand and order a large vodka. If I have to be here I might as well get drunk with the free open bar.

After 15 minutes of Caroline being gone and half of my vodka being empty, I decide that I want to explore a little. I make my way over to a huge double wooden door on the other side of the room and mentally do my happy dance when I notice that it's unlocked. I open it a little and check that the coast is clear before stepping all the way inside and closing it behind me.

I look around the room and gasp loudly. I notice a huge indoor swimming pool in the middle of the room and several loungers around it.

I pull my heels off and sit down on the edge of the pool, letting my feet dip into the warm water. I take a long drink of my vodka and lie back so that I'm lying down on the tile floor but still have my feet in the pool.

I close my eyes and block out any sound around me. I swish my feet lightly so that the water ripples below me and rest my hands on my stomach.

After a few moments, I open my eyes and scream when I see two bright blue eyes staring down at me.

"What are you doing?" Damon asks me with an amused tone.

"Well, I'm trying _not_ to have a heart attack!" I exclaim and sit up; placing my hand over my heart to try and calm myself down from the scare Damon has just given me. Damon lets out a small chuckle and holds his hands up in surrender.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." He apologises.

"No, it's okay." I tell him.

"Why are you in here?" He asks.

"Oh, I couldn't be around rich snobby people any longer." I say without thinking and then widen my eyes.

"Oh fuck, I didn't mean that." I apologise and place my hands over my mouth.

"Oh shit, I didn't mean to curse either." I mentally kick myself and sigh loudly. Damon laughs and sits down next to me. He copies me by removing his shoes and dipping his feet into the pool.

"Wait, why are you here?" I ask him after a few moments.

"I couldn't be around rich snobby people any longer either." He smirks and I laugh.

"You know, I don't think that the host is supposed to disappear from the party that they are throwing." I inform him.

"Eh, they'll be fine for a while." He shrugs and I nod my head at him before looking around the room again.

"Do you like it?" He asks me and motions to the room with his hand.

"Like it? Are you kidding me? I could fit my whole apartment in here at least three times." I mutter and Damon smiles.

"I'll take that as a yes." He says cockily and I roll my eyes. "I'm Damon." He says and holds his hand out for me to shake.

"I know who you are." I say and shake his hand.

"…And this would be the part where you introduce yourself." Damon informs me and smirks and I smirk back.

"Nope. You have to guess." I tell him and Damon raises an eyebrow.

"I have to guess your name?"

"No, you have to guess my bra size." I say sarcastically and see Damon cast his eyes down to my breasts. "I was kidding!" I exclaim and hit him in the chest.

"Honey, don't tease and then act surprised when I follow through." He warns me jokingly and I roll my eyes again.

"I wasn't teasing, I was kidding. And I'm not your honey, _babe." _

"I'm not your babe, _sweetie." _Damon replies in the same tone of voice as me and I look him directly in his blue, blue eyes.

"I'm not your sweetie, _asshole."_

Damon goes to reply to me but then closes his mouth and shrugs.

"Alright, I'll give you that one. I am an asshole." He admits and it makes me laugh. Damon unfastens his top button and slacks his tie a little. We fall into silence for a few moments before Damon speaks.

"Alice." He says randomly and I raise an eyebrow.

"What?"

"Your name. I'm guessing Alice." He explains and my mouth makes an O shape once I realise what he's talking about.

"Not even close."

"Well, shit." He breathes out and I giggle at his curse. "Megan?"

"No."

"Jessica?"

"Okay, where are you getting these from?" I ask and find it hard to wipe the smile from my face.

"I'm just saying names that I think suit you."

"How can you suit a name?" I scoff.

"Easily. Come on, if I never told you my name, what would you think it was?" He asks me and crosses his arms over his chest. I look him over a few times and pretend to think of a name.

"Adonis." I chuckle and Damon laughs loudly.

"Well, I'd happily accept that." He says smugly and I show him a toothy grin. "Okay, what does your name begin with?"

"An X." I say casually and Damon raises an eyebrow.

"Seriously."

"Yes." I say while pretending to be offended.

"Okay…Erm…" Damon tries to think of a name beginning with X and I laugh at how hard he's concentrating. "Nope. I got nothing." He says after a few moments.

"Well that sucks." I sigh and Damon pouts.

Suddenly, a door swings open and Caroline bursts in while looking a little out of breath.

"Elena, where the hell have you been?" She cries.

"Elena!" Damon shouts and points a finger in my direction. "Ha." He says smugly.

"Yeah, yeah." I wave him off. "You got _told_ my name, congrats."

"Damon? What are you doing in here? People are looking for you." Caroline informs Damon and then she sighs. "Elena, what did you do?"

"What? I didn't do anything?" I defend myself.

"Really?" She asks again and raises her eyebrows as if she doesn't believe me.

"Yes." I nod. "I was just sitting here all alone before Adonis tried to give me a heart attack." I tell her seriously and hear Damon laugh beside me.

"Adonis?" She asks and looks around the room.

"Wait…" I turn to face Damon again. "What was your name again?"

"No, you were right with Adonis." He nods and shows me a pose while flexing his muscles.

"Are you drunk?" Caroline asks both of us and we shake our heads no.

"Nope. Just awesome." Damon winks to me.

"O…kay. Well anyway, I wasn't kidding about people looking for you Damon." She says again and Damon sighs.

"I better go back out there." He mumbles hesitantly and stands up. He re-fastens his top button and pushes his tie up before placing his feet into his shoes and holding a hand out for me. I happily take it and stand up with him, before placing my heels back onto my feet.

"It was nice to meet you _Elena." _He widens his eyes and smirks at me.

"I wish I could say the same _Damon." _

Damon laughs before giving me one final look and disappearing back into the party.

"What the hell was that?" Caroline asks.

"What was what?" I ask confused.

"That with you and Damon."

"I actually found someone to talk to who wasn't interested in how much money I earned." I shrug and make my way back to the main party with Caroline hot on my heels. I suddenly crash into someone's chest and plan to have a bitch fit before I notice who it is.

"Ric? Jenna?"

"Elena?" Jenna asks confused before smiling and pulling me into a hug. "Elena!"

"What are you doing here?" I ask them both when I pull out of the hug.

"Ric's friend is hosting this party and he dragged me along with him." She explains in my ear over the music and I nod my head before pointing back at Caroline who is stood behind me.

"Yeah, Caroline dragged me along too." I tell Jenna. Jenna moves around me so that she can greet and hug Caroline and I turn to Ric.

"Congratulations Ric." I smile and pull him into a hug. "Jenna told me that you proposed."

"Yeah, I did. Thanks Elena." He smiles back.

"I have to say, the way that you proposed sounds totally amazing!" I say with glee and Ric laughs.

"Thanks." He says hesitantly but I can tell that he's secretly proud of how he proposed.

Ric, Jenna, Caroline and I chat for a few minutes before Care and I excuse ourselves and make our way out of the front door and to the limousine that brought us here.

"Well, this party sucked." Caroline sighs on the way home.

"I actually had a good time." I admit and Caroline's eyes nearly bulge out of her head.

"Seriously?" She asks.

"Yep. Thanks for inviting me."

"You're welcome." She smiles proudly and gives me an I-told-you-so look. I roll my eyes at her smug face and begin to play with the controls inside the limousine again.

XXX

Mason Lockwood makes his way to his usual steel table and sits down on the cold hard chair. His wrists are handcuffed and a police officer is watching him like a hawk from the other side of the room. After 5 minutes of waiting, Mason spots the face he can always count on to visit him.

Tyler Lockwood sits down on the chair opposite Mason and nods his head at his cousin.

"How you holding up Mase?" Tyler asks.

"I'm doing okay." Mason shrugs. "Have you been doing what I asked?"

"Yes." Tyler nods. "Me and some of the guys have been watching her for a few days now. She went to a party tonight with that blonde friend of hers."

"She went to a _party_ while I'm locked up in here because of her?" Mason spits and bawls his hands up into fists.

"Calm down Mase." Tyler says calmly. "I made a promise to you didn't I?"

Mason calms his breathing down a little and nods his head at Tyler.

"You better not disappoint me Tyler." He warns.

"Don't worry, I won't." Tyler replies confidently. "Elena Gilbert will get what's coming to her. I'll make sure of it."

**A/N: Ooooh! Drama! **

**I hope you liked this chapter. Damn, this was long. **

**If people like this story then I'll continue. If not, I'll just stick to the stories I'm currently writing. **

**Let me know babies! :D **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Wow! Thank you guys so much! I got an amazing response to the first chapter of this story. As a reward, I've decided to update the next chapter. Hope you like it!**

EPOV

"Alex, come on. Please just have one." I beg Alex for the fourth time today.

"No, they're yucky." He pouts and pulls a disgusted face.

"They're not yucky, they're yummy." I pull a carrot stick out of the plastic bag and take a huge bite out of it. "See, yum."

_Oh dear God, these are disgusting…_

"Please, just have one. For me?" I bat my eyelashes and send him a wide smile. He hesitantly reaches into the bag and pulls out a large orange carrot stick. He stares at for a few moments before looking at me and placing one end in his mouth. He carefully bites down and chews a few times.

"See, they're not _that _bad." I tell him and mentally pat myself on the back for getting Alex to eat a vegetable.

"I don't like it." He whines and throws the rest of the carrot across the table.

"Look Al, I'll make you a deal." I say and move closer to him so that I can talk to him without anyone else overhearing. "If you can eat just _half _of these carrot sticks, I promise to bring you some ice-cream to wash them down with."

He stares at me for a moment and holds his pinkie out for me to wrap mine around his.

"I want chocolate." He whispers to me and releases my pinkie.

"Chocolate it is." I nod and show a toothy grin when he immediately munches down several carrot sticks. When I'm satisfied that he has ate enough, I walk into the staff room and pull out a small tub of ice-cream from the freezer in the corner of the room that we keep for emergencies. Just when I think that I'm about to get away with giving Alex ice-cream, Jenna walks into the room and I hide the tub of ice-cream behind my back.

"Oh my God. I've just seen Alex eating carrots!" She cries happily and claps her hands a few times.

"No way, really?" I say and pretend to act surprised – which I totally fail at.

Jenna wipes the smile from her face and narrows her eyes at me.

"What's behind your back?" She asks and tries to step around me to see what I'm hiding.

"Nothing." I say casually and step away from her.

"Elena…" She warns. "What's behind your back?"

"I don't have anything behind my back." I hold the ice-cream tub in one hand and hold up my other free one. "See, nothing here."

"Show me both of your hands." She says smugly and crosses her arms over her chest. _Shit._

"God Jenna, no. What's with the 20 questions? Jesus! I can't believe that you think I'm hiding something from you. I thought you knew me better than that." I huff quickly and Jenna holds her hands up.

"Okay." She says and backs away. "I believe you."

She turns around to make herself a cup of coffee and I try to discretely place the ice-cream underneath my cardigan. While I'm concentrating, I don't see Jenna pounce away from the coffee machine and run over to me.

She grabs my arms and tries to get the ice-cream away from my hands.

"Argh!" I scream and try my hardest to push her away while keeping one hand tightly wrapped around the ice-cream tub.

She pulls the tub from my hands and smirks triumphantly.

"Ah-ha!" She gloats and points a finger in my direction. "I knew it! You were going to give this to Alex _again,_ weren't you?"

"No." I scoff. "That's for me."

"Why were you trying to hide it from me then?"

"Because Jenna. I didn't want to have you tell you this but you're getting kind of fat. I didn't want to tempt you with ice-cream." I smirk and Jenna opens her mouth in shock.

"Elena!" She squeals and tries to look mad before bursting out laughing. "God, you're so mean."

"And you're a crazy bitch. Seriously, I think you broke my arm." I tell her and rub my arm on the spot that she grabbed.

"Well you shouldn't be giving ice-cream to Alex." She explains and I narrow my eyes at her.

"I wasn't. I told you that it is for me."

"Oh really?" She scoffs and raises an eyebrow. "Let's ask Alex shall we?"

"Yes, lets." I nod. _Oh I totally got this. Alex loves me._

Jenna leaves the staff room first and I quickly grab the ice-cream from the side and place it underneath my cardigan before following her out and over to the table that Alex is sat at. I stand behind Jenna so that Alex has a clear view of me but Jenna doesn't.

"Alex…" Jenna says sweetly. "Did Elena say that she was going to give you ice-cream?"

I shake my head and mouth the word _no_ behind Jenna to signal for Alex to do the same but he just stares at me before staring back at Jenna.

"Yes." He says with one nod of his head.

"Oh." I gasp. "Traitor." I mumble to Alex and he just smiles innocently at me.

Jenna turns around to face me with a smug look on her face.

"Shut up." I mumble and Jenna laughs before walking away from Alex and I.

"You know…" I start and sit down opposite Alex on a tiny chair. "I shouldn't give you this for that stunt you just pulled." I say and pull out the ice-cream tub from underneath my cardigan. Alex widens his eyes and sticks his tongue out which makes me laugh. "But… I did promise you. And you know that I _never _break my promises."

I place the ice-cream in front of him and pull the lid off which makes him smile widely when he notices the chocolately goodness inside.

"Thank you 'Lena."

"You're welcome buddy." I smile and ruffle his hair up. He digs into the ice-cream while I sit on full alert like some kind of guard-dog just waiting for the Jenna-patrol to pass by and catch us out.

XXX

DPOV

"Mr Salvatore, your brother is here to see you." My receptionist Rose tells me through the speaker phone on my desk.

"Thanks Rose, send him up." I reply back and close down the document currently open on my laptop.

"Hey Damon." My brother Stefan greets when he enters my office.

"Stefan!" I stand up to pull him into a manly hug and pat his back a few times. "How's medical school treating you?"

"Eh." He shrugs. "Okay I guess."

"You know that I can always offer you a job here if you decide that you don't want to be a doctor anymore." I inform him and he nods his head.

"Yeah I know, but I don't want to work for my big brother. I kinda want to do my own thing."

"Aww, little Steffie, all grown up." I say and pretend to wipe a fake tear from my eye.

"Shut up Damon, you're so immature." He scoffs and I gasp.

"Me? Immature? Never. I'm what they call fun. You should try it sometime."

Stefan rolls his eyes and I sit back down on my desk chair.

"So, why are you here anyway?" I ask and shuffle a few papers around on my desk.

"I saw dad today." He says nervously and I look up from my desk to meet his eyes.

"You did?" I ask quietly.

"Yeah." He nods. "He said that he wants to see you."

"Ha." I scoff. "No he doesn't."

"Yes he does Damon. He wants to try and fix your relationship with him."

"Just because you forgave him Stefan doesn't mean that I will."

Stefan sighs loudly and runs a hand through his hair.

"Well, he said that if you get the chance, he wants you to call him." He stands up from the chair he's sat in and makes his way over to my glass office door. "You can't hate him forever Damon."

With this, he disappears through the door and I'm left staring at the empty space where he was just stood.

I don't know how long that I'm staring at the door for before it swings open loudly and blonde curls bounce their way into my office.

"Jesus Christ Caroline!" I exclaim and place a hand on my chest. "Do you not understand the concept of knocking?"

"Why, what were you doing?" She asks and I stare at her.

"None of your business."

"Okay… so that either means that you were doing nothing or watching porn."

"You're hilarious." I deadpan.

"Whatever. These are you appointments for next week." She says and hands me a piece of paper filled with names and numbers. Caroline turns on the spot and goes to exit my office but I call her name.

"Wait." I place a friendly smile on my face and motion with my hand for her to sit down. She looks confused for a moment before sitting down in front of me and crossing her legs.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" She asks and narrows her eyes.

"Like what? I'm just smiling."

"Exactly, you never smile at me." She points out and I roll my eyes and ignore her comment.

"So… did you enjoy the party last night?" I ask.

"Yes… it was okay." She replies hesitantly.

"Good. _I _personally had a lot of fun last night. See, I met this girl and I'd really like to see her again."

"Okay. Why are you telling me this?" She shrugs and I smile widely.

"Because, my dear Caroline, she happens to be friends with you." I wait a few moments and let my confession sink through Caroline's big blonde hair before she widens her eyes and drops her mouth open. _Bingo._

"You mean Elena?" She cries and stands up instead of sitting down.

"Yes, I mean Elena." I confirm.

"No." She says randomly.

"No?"

"No. I'm not going to help you so don't even bother to ask."

"Why not?" I whine like a five year old child but I don't really care right now.

"Because Elena has dated an asshole before and I'm not going to let her date another one."

"What… I'm not _that_ much of an asshole…"

"Yeah, and Nicki Minaj _hasn't _had butt implants." She says sarcastically. I stare at her in silence with narrowed eyes for a few moments before I end up laughing.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Nothing." She sighs. "You really need to keep up with celebrity gossip Damon."

"No can do Barbie, I actually _have _a life…" I smirk and she throws me a deadly glare. I cough awkwardly and remove the smirk from my face. _So I may be a little scared of Caroline, so what? She's one scary blonde._

"Look…" I continue. "Just give me her number, that's all I'm asking for."

"No." She repeats.

"Caroline." I warn.

"_Damon_." She mocks.

"Come on, don't be a bitch. Just give me her number."

"No. Elena deserves a nice guy, one who actually cares about her and _you,_ Damon Salvatore are not that guy."

"How do you know that?" I question her and lean back in my chair.

"Because, you're a fuck 'em and chuck 'em guy, not a white picket fence guy."

"Maybe I just haven't met the right girl yet." I shrug.

"Yeah well keep looking buddy. You're not getting Elena's number from me." She says confidently and pats me on the cheek before leaving me alone in my office.

"This isn't over Blondie!" I shout through the door and then pout when she doesn't reply.

I _will_ see Elena again. _Never underestimate Damon Salvatore._

XXX

EPOV

I get back to my apartment later that day and flop down onto my long beige couch face first. I'm _so_ tired. My legs are killing me from running around after the kids all day. _The kids?_ I sound like a mom.

I crawl over to the kitchen and open the fridge. I stare at the empty spaces where there should be food for a few seconds before sighing and closing the refrigerator door. I wait a moment or two before I open the door again as if something is going to miraculously appear. I do this for a few times before I give up eventually and text Caroline asking if she wants to go for some food.

She texts me back a few minutes later saying that she'll meet us at our restaurant in a half hour. Our restaurant is a small pizzeria that is directly half way between my and Caroline's apartments. We first went 4 years ago and we haven't stopped eating there since. They have the best pizza in the whole of Chicago.

I quickly shower and change my jeans before tying my hair-up in a messy bun and adding a little make-up to my olive skin.

I lock my apartment and begin the 10 minute walk to the Pizzeria. When I get there, I don't spot Caroline anywhere so I take the first empty table available and stare at the menu even though I already know what I'm going to order.

"Elena dear, it's been a while." Maria Brogna says kindly and distracts me from staring at the menu.

"Maria." I smile and stand up to hug the little old woman.

Maria is a woman in her late 60's and is originally from Italy. Her accent is thick but not so thick that you can't understand anything that she is saying. Maria has to be the kindest woman to ever exist and she treats both Caroline and I like her children.

"How are you feeling?" I ask her and pull back from the hug.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that dear?" She replies and I know immediately what she is talking about. _Mason._

"I'm fine." I wave her off. "I'm over it."

I sit back down at the table and fiddle with my menu. Maria sighs and sits down opposite me.

"You're not over it Elena. You can't just _get over_ something like that."

"I know." I sigh. "But I don't really like to talk about it."

"But you have to. You can't just bottle everything up inside. You almost _died_ Elena."

"I know that." I snap and then soften my hard features. "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it. I'd rather you be mad at me than go through this alone." She explains and places a soft hand over mine.

"I know and I appreciate you looking out for me, but I'm not ready to talk about it yet."

"Well you know where I am if you change your mind." She rubs my hand with hers a few times in a comforting gesture before standing up and pulling a notepad and a small pen from her apron pocket.

"Now, what can I get you?" She asks and I thank God, Allah and Buddha for getting her to changing the subject.

"I'll take what I usually have please and Caroline too."

She scribbles something down quickly before nodding her head at me and walking away to the kitchen to place my order.

10 minutes later, I spot Caroline run into the pizzeria with a grumpy look on her face. She finds me in the empty restaurant and throws her bags down on the table with a bang.

"Woh there Thor, what's got your panties in a twist?" is the first thing I say to her. I am _such _a good friend.

"Damon." She growls. "Urgh, he's just so… he's… Urgh!"

"Yep." I agree even though I have no idea what she's talking about. I learnt a long time ago that life flows a lot easier if you agree with Caroline.

"He's such a dick." She mumbles and rests her head in the palms of her hands with her elbows on the table.

"What did he do now?" I sigh.

"He made me run around all day after him because he was pissed at me. He asked me to order steak for his lunch today, so I did. Then, when it arrived, he said that he changed his mind and wanted to order something else instead. He did this _six _fucking times! I think the chef's down at _Richie's _where I order his food now officially hate me."

"Why was he pi…" I begin to ask but she cuts me off and continues with her rant.

"_Then, _he made me move one of his appointments forward by 2 hours. When the clients arrived, Damon told them that he wasn't expecting them so early. When the clients told Damon that they got a call from me saying that the appointment was moved forward, he denied everything and made me apologise to them. I've never been so humiliated in my entire life! And he thought the whole thing was _hilarious! _I don't think I've ever seen him laugh so hard since I've started to work there."

I wait a few moments and make sure that she has completely finished her rant before speaking.

"Why was he pissed at you?"

"Because he wanted me to give you his number and I wouldn't." She explains and I stare at her wide eyed before bursting out laughing.

"What?" I chuckle.

"It's not funny Elena! He embarrassed me so much today all because I wouldn't give him my best friend's phone number."

"Why the hell would _Damon Salvatore_ want _my _number?" I ask, still chuckling a little.

"Beats me." She shrugs.

"Why didn't you just give it to him?" I ask and she widens her eyes at me.

"Are you kidding me? You actually want to go out with that dick?"

"No! But I could have told him myself that I'm not interested. You didn't have to suffer for me."

"Well it's a bit too late now isn't it?" She hisses and it makes me laugh again. "Stop laughing at me!" She pouts and crosses her arms over her chest which makes me laugh harder.

"Oh my God! You look just like Alex sat like that!" I laugh and point at her.

"Oh, you think that's funny huh?" She asks and I nod my head. "Well how's this for funny?"

Caroline pulls her phone out of her bag and quickly types something.

"What? Did you send me an angry text message?" I ask sarcastically and pull my phone out from my jacket pocket.

"Nope. I just gave Damon your number." She says smugly and I do a double take.

"What?"

"You heard me." She nods.

"But you just said that you didn't _want_ to give Damon my number."

"That was before you pissed me off. Besides, you're so confident that you can say no to him, now's your chance."

"Caroline." I whine.

"Maybe now you'll be a little more careful when you decide to mock me." She says and raises a perfectly shaped eyebrow.

I glare at her and she glares back. Our pizzas arrive and we eat in silence while not removing our eyes away from each other's faces. After a few minutes, I get a little uncomfortable and smile awkwardly.

"Fuck me, this is intense." I mumble and Caroline giggles.

"Agreed."

We fall into light conversation as if we didn't just have a tiny friendship spat and soon, all of our food has been demolished. Care and I say our goodbyes and I begin to walk home. Suddenly, my phone starts to ring and I look at the screen.

_Unknown number._ Great. I bet $1000 that this is Damon.

"Hello." I answer rather nervously.

"_Hello Elena?_" That silky voice questions.

"Yes."

"_Hey, this is Damon Salvatore. We met at the party last night." _

"Oh yeah." I reply, acting as if I wasn't expecting his call. "Hi."

"_Listen, I was wondering if you wanted to do something some time?" _He asks and I cringe.

"Look, I'm sorry Damon, but I'm not really looking for anything right now."

"_So? We can still hang out as friends can't we?" _He says and I sigh.

"Oh, so you're one of _those_ guys huh?"

"_One of what guys?" _He asks and I can hear the confusion in his voice.

"One of those guys that can't take no for an answer." I reply teasingly and hear him chuckle on the other end of the phone.

"_I can take no for an answer, you just haven't given a _no_ for me to take." _

"No." I breathe into the phone. The end goes quiet for a moment and I begin to wonder if he has hung up or something.

"_Yeah, sorry." _He apologises. "_I guess I can't take no for an answer." _He says and it makes me laugh.

"_Oh come on Elena, it's not like I'm asking for a marriage proposal. Just one drink?" _

I begin to say no into the phone but stop myself. Why shouldn't I? I deserve to have some fun.

"As friends?" I ask.

"_As friends_." He confirms.

"Okay. When?"

"_Are you busy now?" _

"No." I say hesitantly.

"_Great! I'll meet you at the Grill."_

"Wait Damon, I can't-"

"_Okay, see you soon." _He cuts me off and hangs up. I remove the phone from my ear and stare at the screen that shows the words _call ended._

"What a fucker." I say to the phone and then realise how ridiculous I look so I push the phone back into my jacket pocket and make a U turn so that I'm heading for the grill instead of home.

XXX

I get the grill 15 minutes later and spot Damon sat at the bar with a drink placed on the counter in front of him. He turns his head and notices me walking over to him and smiles widely. He goes to stand up to greet me but I immediately place my hand on his shoulder and push him back so that he's sitting down again.

"No standing. This isn't a date." I explain when I see the confused look on his face.

"Not a date." He nods his head. "Got it."

I sit down on the empty bar stool next to him and remove my jacket.

"So, can I buy you a drink?" He asks and I shake my head.

"No thanks, I can buy my own drink."

"Come on Elena, just because I pay for your drink doesn't mean that this is a date." He laughs and I make an _hmm _sound. "Wow, you really don't want to go on a date with me huh?"

"Don't take it personally Damon, I don't want to go on a date with anybody." I shrug and order a glass of red wine.

"Why not?" He asks.

"Let's just say that I don't trust guys anymore." I tell him and thank the bartender when they place the wine glass in front of me.

"Anymore?" Damon asks but I ignore him.

"So, Caroline told me that you asked for my number today." I say and change the subject.

"Yeah, but she wouldn't give it to me." He mumbles and I smile at his cute little pout.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you want my number?" I ask.

"Because you're the first person that I've met in a long time that doesn't kiss my ass just because I have money." He explains.

"Wow. People actually kiss your ass?" I ask seriously and then blow my serious look when I smile. "No offence Damon, but I wouldn't touch your ass if you paid me – with the money I know you have." I wink.

"I don't know whether that's an insult or a compliment." He laughs and I reply with a shrug. "So, Elena, what is it that you do?"

"I'm a stripper."

"Oh…" He says nervously and looks down at the bar. "I didn't know." A few giggles escape from my mouth and they make him look up at me. "Ha, ha." He says when he catches on that I'm just kidding.

"I work with children that suffer from disabilities." I tell him and he widens his eyes in surprise. "What?" I ask.

"Nothing. I just didn't have you down for the selfless type, that's all."

"So you thought I was selfish?" I ask and turn all the way on my stool so that my knees are touching Damon's.

"No!" He says quickly. "I didn't think that you were selfish. You're job just surprised me that's all."

"Good surprise or bad surprise?"

"Good. Definitely good." He nods and I smile.

"So, Mr Hotshot, where you from?" I ask and take a long drink of my red wine.

"Originally from Italy but I moved here when I was 8."

"Ooh, you're Italian huh? Does that mean that you can cook?" I tease and he laughs.

"Actually, I can. But I don't think that it has anything to do with me begin Italian. I just have a mom who's an amazing chef." He explains.

"You're lucky. My mom sucked at cooking."

"I take it that she's not Italian." Damon teases back and I nudge my knee against his.

"No. Born and breed here in Chicago."

Damon and I laugh and talk for the next hour and after 4 more glasses of wine, I decide to head home or else I won't be able to wake up for work tomorrow.

"I'll walk you home." Damon tells me and grabs his jacket from the back of his chair.

"Oh no, you don't need to do that." I reassure him and slip my jacket over my arms but it surprises me when Damon does the same.

"I insist. Chicago is a pretty big place Elena. I wouldn't want anything to happen to your pretty face now do I?" He teases and pinches my cheek.

I smack his hand away and raise my eyebrows. "Touch me again and something will happen to _your_ pretty face." I warn and then smile sweetly which makes Damon laugh.

Damon stays true to his word and walks me all the way back to my apartment. I type in the code that allows the main door to unlock and let me in to the apartment building and turn around on the steps.

"Thanks for walking me home Damon but if you're expecting to get lucky tonight you're sadly mistaken." I tell Damon and he smirks.

"Don't worry Elena. I wasn't expecting anything." He says and suddenly reaches forward so that he can kiss me lightly on the cheek.

He removes his head away from mine and I glare at him.

"What?" He shrugs. "Friends kiss each other all the time."

"Oh yeah, Caroline and I always kiss." I say sarcastically.

Damon suddenly stares into space and I go to ask if he's okay when it suddenly hits me.

"Don't think about it!" I shriek and smack him on his arm.

"I'm sorry!" He laughs and holds his hands up in front of him.

"How are you getting home?" I ask.

"Why? You worried about me?" He smirks proudly and I scoff.

"No. Just… curious."

"Well, don't _worry _Elena. I'll call a cab."

"Do you need some money for the cab fare?" I ask as reflex for when Caroline stays over and then laugh. "Never mind. I think you got it covered."

"Yeah." He nods. "Thanks for the offer though."

"What are friends for?" I smile and Damon smiles back.

"Good night Elena." He says quietly and stares at my lips for a few moments before giving me a small smile and walking down the steps leading up to my apartment.

I stare at his back for a few seconds before opening the apartment building door and calling it a night.

**A/N: Thanks for reading. Let me know what you think!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, they really made me smile. **

**Here's the next chapter…**

EPOV

"_Willow's day care centre. Jenny speaking, how may I help you?" _Jenny says happily on the other end of the phone.

"Hi Jenny, it's Elena. I'm sorry but I can't make it into work today, I'm sick." I explain to her from the very comfortable position on my bed.

"_Oh no! Well I hope that you get better soon Elena. I'll let Jenna know not to expect you today_."

"Thanks a lot Jenny, bye." I hang up the phone and grab another tissue from the box on my nightstand to blow my nose.

I think it's safe to say that I feel like shit. My head is killing me even though I've taken every drug I have in my bathroom cabinet. My throat's painful and my chest is so tight, that it hurts to take deep breaths. I'm surprised that Jenny could understand me when I spoke to her on the phone just now. I sound like wookiee from Star Wars.

I feel bad for missing work but if I went to work looking like this, I think all of the children will run away from me screaming. To say that I look a mess is a compliment. I text Caroline and tell her that I'm sick and she text's me back saying that she'll come over to check up on me after work.

Damon and I have been hanging out every day for the past week. I decide that I like Damon - He's fun. I thought that he might be a little snobby because he has money – as most rich people are – but he's nothing like that. He doesn't boast about his money at all and he definitely doesn't seem to care that I don't have any. Although, he does try to pay for everything if we go out for food or drinks.

I snuggle back into my pillow and pull my cover right up to my neck so that I look like a little samosa all wrapped up. I close my eyes and just as I can feel myself drift off to sleep, a loud knock at my apartment door scares me back awake. I don't make any attempt to move from my bed and silently beg the person at my door to go away. After a few seconds, I hear the knock again and I open my eyes with a loud sigh. When I hear the knock a third time, I lose it.

"Urgh!" I groan loudly and push the cover away from my body angrily but pull it back around my shoulders when I feel too cold without it. I wrap the cover back around my body and shuffle over to the door lazily.

"People are trying to sleep in here!" I yell as I rip the door open and I get surprised when I see a pair of familiar blue eyes staring back at me. "Damon? What are you doing here?"

"Caroline told me that you were sick." He shrugs and then holds up a paper bag with one hand. "I brought presents."

"Presents?"

"Yeah, you know. Chicken soup, headache tablets, cough medicine, a box of tissues, the usual _sick kit."_

"Why?"

"Because, my _friend_, it's your lucky day. _I_ am going to take care of you." He says smugly and pushes the sleeves of his black blazer up to his elbows.

"You want to take care of me while I'm sick?" I ask with disbelief and he nods. "Yeah, I don't think we're close enough for that yet."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know that there were rules about friendship. Do you have a spare rulebook lying around somewhere, I need to catch up." He says sarcastically and rolls his eyes.

"Urgh, as much as I would love to think of a witty comeback to your smart-ass comment, I'm too sick." I sigh and rub my head.

"So invite me in." He suggests with a shrug of his shoulders and a smirk on his face. I look him over a few times before sighing loudly and opening the door wider.

"Get in here."

Damon walks into my apartment with a wide satisfied smile on his face and looks around my living room.

"Wow, this is… very err, girly." He mutters and I smile.

"You mean with all the pink? Yeah, blame Caroline. She decorated my apartment for me."

"Of course she did." Damon mutters with a shake of his head. He places the paper bag in his hands down and opens it up, taking out the contents and placing them on the kitchen counter. I shuffle over to him and rub my chest lightly.

"Here." He says sweetly, handing me a small blue tub. "Rub this on your chest." I see a playful glint flash in his eyes and he places a cheeky smile on his face. "Unless you want me to do it for you?"

"Thanks but I think I'll manage." I deadpan and open the tub using all of the strength I have left. I rub the ointment into my chest and pretend that I don't notice Damon watching me from the corner of his eyes. I ignore the warm feeling in my belly at the thought of Damon 'taking care of me' and although I act like I don't care, it's a nice thought. I usually do the taking care of people, not the other way round. Mason never looked after me when I was sick…

Damon pulls a thermos out of the paper bag that's long in shape and containing a liquid. He pulls the lid from the thermos and an amazing smell hits my nostrils.

"Hmm, what is that?" I ask, moving closer to smell it again.

"Chicken soup." He replies and begins to open every draw in my kitchen in the search of a spoon.

"Here." He hands me a spoon and the soup. "Eat it before it gets cold."

I take one spoonful of the soup and can't help but moan at the taste. Damon coughs awkwardly at my moan and fidgets a little.

"This is amazing. Where did you get this?" I ask him and take another spoonful of the soup.

"I made it." He shrugs and I cough in surprise on the mouthful of soup I've just taken.

"I'm sorry, what? You made _this?"_

"Yes." He nods slowly. "I made _that."_

"You have a gift." I mumble and continue to eat the soup happily.

I move from my seat at the kitchen table to the couch and take the soup with me. I rest my back against one of the large pink cushions and spread my legs out, my bed cover still wrapped around my body. Damon leaves my kitchen and lifts my feet up before sitting down next to me and placing my feet on his lap.

"You don't have to stay you know." I tell him because I don't want him to feel obligated to stay with me.

"Oh!" He gasps. "Are you trying to get rid of me?"

"No." I chuckle. "You just don't have to take care of me. You don't owe me or anything so if you want to leave, you can."

"Maybe I want to take care of you Elena." He says seriously and I fidget nervously.

"Why?" I whisper.

"Why not?"

"I hardly ever have someone taking care of me." I mutter and blow on the hot chicken soup before taking another spoonful.

"Well then it really _is _your lucky day." He smirks and sends me a quick wink.

"If you just came here to rub that ointment on my chest you better leave now." I laugh and Damon chuckles before squeezing my feet lightly with one hand.

"Come on, how about I tuck you in?" He asks and takes the now empty thermos and spoon away from me. He helps me to stand up and I point him in the direction of my bedroom.

By the time I reach my bedroom, I feel so tired that I would have collapsed onto my bed if it wasn't for Damon holding me upright.

I snuggle back down into my pillows and get comfortable. Damon pats my head and pushes my cover around me so that I'm wrapped up tightly.

"Sleep tight Elena. Don't let the bed bugs bite." He teases and I try to glare at him before I fall asleep but I'm not completely sure if I managed to open my eyes in time.

XXX

DPOV

Elena has been asleep for the past 2 hours and I've been hanging around her apartment like some kind of stalker. I made her some more of my chicken soup which took around half an hour and then after that, nothing. I've just sat on her pink couch and flicked through TV shows. I know that I should probably leave but I don't want to. Besides, I am here for her benefit in making sure that she gets better. _Yeah, you keep telling yourself that Damon…_

Elena and I have been hanging out this past week. We've been out for dinner, we went for lunch, we went for drinks and every single time she made sure to let me know that it's not a date. She's been hurt before, anyone with eyes can see that she doesn't trust men. I just want to know why.

I hear shuffling coming for the direction of the bedroom and sit up straight instead of the slouching position that I'm currently in. Her bedroom door opens and she strolls into the living room. She looks better than she did before. Her skin has returned to its normal olive colour and the slight blush on her cheeks has returned. She yawns and stretches her arms above her head which makes her tank top ride up a little to reveal a small peek of her toned stomach. I let out an awkward cough which catches her attention and makes her finally notice me.

"Oh, you're still here?" She says with surprise in her voice and wide eyes.

"Were you expecting anything else?" I ask with a slightly cocky tone.

"Not really." She shrugs and then sniffs the air. "What's that smell?" She asks more to herself and heads in the direction of the kitchen where I placed the chicken soup I made her. A few seconds later she comes back out of the kitchen and stares at me with a weird expression.

"You made me more soup?"

"Yep." I nod. "I figured I'd do something productive with my time while you were sleeping."

"And that includes watching my TV?" She asks with an amused tone and sits down next to me on the couch.

"Of course." I scoff. "I have to say Elena, you have a very interesting collection of favourite TV shows. Let's see…" I begin to scroll through the TV shows that she's recorded and read them out loud one by one. "Jersey shore, The Kardashians, America's next top model, The real housewives of Atlanta. My God, you need help woman."

"Hey!" She slaps my arm lightly and pulls the TV remote from my hand. "I'll have you know that those are _excellent _TV shows."

"No, those are _crappy _TV shows." I correct her.

"If you're going to insult my TV preferences, I suggest you get out of my apartment." She says seriously but I can tell that she's teasing me by the slight smirk on her face.

"Fine. I guess I'll just take my chicken soup with me." I shrug and go to stand up from the couch but she grabs my arm and pulls me back down.

"You can stay." She says so sweetly that it makes me laugh. She plays a recorded episode of Jersey shore and leans back into the couch, crossing her legs underneath her so that she is sat slightly on her feet.

"So, how are you feeling?" I ask her and turn slightly so that I'm able to look at her but not so much so that it's full on staring.

"Better." She nods. "That ointment that you gave me worked wonders. My chest doesn't hurt so much anymore." She says and rubs her chest.

"See. Never doubt Damon Salvatore." I smirk.

"Yeah, well thanks to Damon Salvatore, I know who to call now when I'm sick. I have to say that you make a good nurse."

"Nurse?" I scoff.

"Would you prefer me to say 'my little bitch?'"

"Nurse is fine." I nod and Elena nods back.

"Hey, won't you get into trouble for missing work today to come over to my apartment and watch Jersey shore with me?" She asks.

"Nah." I wave her off. "Seeing as I own the company, the only one who can 'tell me off' is me. Though Caroline might be a bit pissed." I mumble.

"No!" She whines. "I _hate _pissed off Caroline."

"Yeah, me too. I once asked her to do something for me when she was in a pissed off mood and she tried to stab me with a pen."

"She tried to stab you?" She laughs.

"Well, it was more like a _jab _rather than a _stab_, but the principles the same."

"Oh, that's nothing. I once was a half hour late to a reservation we had at a fancy restaurant downtown and when I showed, she ordered practically every food on the menu. Once we ate, she ran out of the restaurant and left me to pay for everything. I couldn't afford to eat for a month after that." She giggles and it makes me smile.

"Money doesn't seem like a very big issue to you." I state and Elena shrugs her shoulders.

"It's not really. I mean sure, it would be nice to be able to afford everything I wanted but money is just that, _money. _There are more important things in life. I just hate it when people change who they are because they actually have some."

"You sound like you know someone like that."

"I do." She nods. "Or at least I did anyway - My ex-best friend Bonnie. Care, Bonnie and I went to high school together, but when we left for college, Bonnie's grandmother died and she inherited millions of dollars. It was fun at first. Bonnie was able to take Caroline and I out nearly every night and we did _a lot_ of crazy stuff. But then Bonnie started to care more about her money than her school work and her friends. She turned cold and bitchy just because Care and I didn't have the same amount of money she did. She eventually dropped out of college and hasn't spoken to me or Caroline since. I don't even know where she is."

"That sucks." Is the only thing I manage to say and kick myself at how lame I sound.

"Yeah." She smiles. "It does."

We fall into a comfortable silence and watch the TV show Elena has playing on the TV. Something bright and colourful catches my eye from the corner of the living room and I turn my head to see a wall full of drawings.

"Hey, what are these?" I ask her and stand up to be able to walk over to the wall and get a closer look at the drawings.

"Oh, they're drawings that the kids at work drew for me." She explains and walks over next to me. I scan the drawings with amazement. There are easily at least a hundred drawings on this wall.

"What's this one?" I ask and point to a picture of two people holding hands.

"Oh, that's one that a boy called Alex drew for me." She says and her eyes light up at the mention of the little boy's name. "He's always drawing. It's rare to find him without a pencil in his hand. Well, he's either holding a pencil or a spoon. That boy loves his ice-cream." She laughs and it makes me grin at how much she seems to care about this boy.

I point to several more pictures and she explains who drew them and then tells me a story about each one. Each time, her eyes light up in the same way and I find it so adorable. Halfway through her explanation of one particular drawing, my phone buzzes in my pants pocket.

"Sorry." I apologise and quickly scan over the text message I've just received.

'_Damon, I don't know where you are but you need to get to the office now! Everything is going crazy without you here. Don't make me hunt you down - you know that I will. If you're not here in the next 10 minutes, I _will _chop your balls off.' – Caroline Forbes._

"You need to go don't you?" Elena says and must be able to tell by the expression on my face.

"Yeah." I sigh. "I don't exactly want to leave but for the sake of my manhood, I think I should."

"It's okay." She smiles and walks me to the door. "Thank you for keeping me company."

"You're welcome." I smirk. I go to kiss her cheek like I usually do when I say goodbye to her but she holds her hand out and stops me.

"I'm still kinda gross and contagious." She explains and I roll my eyes.

"I don't know about contagious but you're definitely_ not_ gross." I wink and run my eyes up and down her body.

"Pervert." She teases and I reply with a shrug and then kiss her cheek anyway. I leave her apartment building and get into my red Ferrari that I parked on the side of the street. I drive a little over the speed limit on my way to the office – not for the adrenaline rush. No, I drive fast to save my balls from being cut off by an angry blonde.

XXX

After being searched by the ugliest security guard Tyler Lockwood has ever seen, he made his way into the visiting area and took his usual seat in front of his cousin.

"So? Did you find anything out?" Mason asks him as soon as he sits down.

"What? No hello?" Tyler tries to joke but returns to a serious posture when he notices the glare on Mason's face. "Actually, I did find something out, but I don't think you're going to like it Mase."

"Come on then, out with it." Mason growls impatiently.

"We followed her a few days ago to a bar where she met up with a guy. She stayed for around an hour and then he walked her home before kissing her on the cheek goodnight." Tyler can see the anger burn in Mason's eyes at his words, but knows that he should continue.

"Elena and the same guy have been hanging out all week and today, one of the guys saw him go up to her apartment. He only came out nearly 3 hours later."

Mason squeezes his hands into fists so hard that his knuckles turn white.

"Who the fuck is he?" He spits and slams his handcuffed hands down hard onto the metal table.

"Hey, keep it down over there!" Bill the security guard shouts across the room but Mason ignores him.

"Tyler? I said who is he?" Mason repeats.

"I did some digging and found out that his name is Damon Salvatore."

"_Damon Salvatore_? As in the millionaire? _That_ Damon Salvatore?" Mason asks and Tyler nods his head. "What the fuck would he want with _Elena?_"

"He probably wants to get into her pants." Tyler mumbles under his breath but Mason hears him and sends him a deadly glare.

"Well it's your job to make sure that doesn't happen." Mason growls.

"So what do you want me to do? Take him out?"

"Are you kidding me Ty? The guys a millionaire, we could never touch him."

"So what then?" Tyler asks confused.

"Listen carefully, this is what you're going to do…"

**A/N: Please take the time to review/favourite/follow. They mean the world to me :D**

**I hope that you liked this chapter, let me know! **


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews! Some of you seem to think that now I'm writing this story, I'm not going to update my other ones and I promise you that's not the case. I have exams coming up soon so I only have time to focus on one story and I'm finding a lot more inspiration to write this one than my others right now. I promise once all of my exams are over, I'll be updating every one of my stories :D **

**Here's the next chapter…**

"Wait a minute. Damon came over here and actually took care of you?" Caroline asks with disbelief in her voice.

"Yes Care, I've told you that six times now." I roll my eyes.

"Well I'm sorry, but I find it hard to imagine."

"Why?" I scoff. "I'm not _that _repulsive."

"I know." She sighs. "I didn't mean you, I meant Damon. I don't know why he would skip a day at the office to take care of a sick girl he's known for just over a week."

"I'm just so awesome, he can't resist me." I wink.

"Yeah Elena, of course that's it." She says sarcastically and leaves my bedroom to go to kitchen.

"Erm, I take offence to that!" I yell to her as she leaves my bedroom. "Blondes." I mutter under my breath.

"I heard that!" She yells back from my kitchen.

"Stupid blondes and their stupid hearing." I whisper this time and move from the position on my bed. I leave my bedroom and make my way to the kitchen to find Caroline when I stop dead in my tracks.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I ask and cross my arms over my chest in an intimidating way.

"Eating." She mumbles with her mouth full of the delicious chicken soup that Damon made me. Yeah, that's right, made _me!_ I don't see the name Caroline in the word me, do you?

"Yes, I can see that Caroline. I mean what the hell do you think you're doing eating _that?_

"It's good." She shrugs.

"It's not _good, _it's _amazing." _I correct her. "And it's not yours."

I pull the bowl of chicken soup from her hands and place it back on the kitchen counter. Caroline rolls her eyes at how dramatic I'm being but I don't care. Damon's soup is too good to waste on Caroline.

"So, it's Friday night and you seem a lot better. What do you want to do?" She asks me and I shrug my shoulders.

"I don't know. Something fun?"

"Well that narrows it down." She mutters.

"It does actually. You could have suggested anything. Let's take murder for example - That shit is _not_ fun. Therefore, we can't do it."

"Thanks Elena. Because you want to do something fun, I've decided not to suggest for us to get ourselves murdered tonight." She tells me sarcastically.

"See." I say, completely ignoring the sarcasm in Caroline's voice. "_Elena Gilbert, saving lives since 1980_. Has a ring to it, doesn't it?"

"Just get dressed." She huffs and throws my jacket at me with force.

"There's no need for violence Caroline." I shake my head disapprovingly and walk back into my bedroom in the search of clothes.

XXX

After changing into an Aztec patterned bodycon dress, Caroline and I hit the town. We head to a nightclub around 20 minutes from my apartment called _blaze. _As soon as we enter the club, we're hit by loud dance music and neon lights flashing different colours on the ceiling on the nightclub.

"I'll go and get us a table." Care yells to me over the music and nods her head in the direction of a group of tables. I nod my head once so that she's know I heard her and I make my way over to the bar.

"What can I get you?" A buff bartender with a tattoo sleeve asks me.

"One large vodka and orange and a sex on the beach please."

The bartender nods his head and starts to make our drinks.

"Put them on my tab." A fancy man in a business suit says to the bartender about the drinks I just ordered.

"Oh no, that's okay really." I say politely.

"Don't worry about it." He waves me off and holds the same hand out for me to shake. "I'm Simon."

"Elena." I reply but don't bother to shake his hand.

"So Elena, what's a pretty girl like you doing here alone?"

"Thank you for the compliment _Simon,_ but I'm not interested." I say. _There's no point beating around the bush._

"Why not?"

"Because I have a boyfriend." I lie.

"So?" He winks and I try again.

"I'm a lesbian."

"I _definitely _don't care."

"I have a dick." I say and the smirk on his face turns into a frown. "You can go now."

Simon mumbles something under his breath that I don't quite catch over the loud music and then disappears to hit on the next girl at the bar.

"Here's your drinks." The bartender returns with my vodka and orange and Caroline's sex on the beach.

"Thanks." I take the drinks from him and exchange money. I spent around 2 minutes looking for Caroline and find her sat down at a round table with two other guys. _You cannot take her anywhere._

"Here's your drink, Caroli- Damon, Ric? What are you doing here?" I ask when I notice the two guys sat with Caroline are Damon and Ric.

"We thought it would be a good idea to get our _par-tay _on!" Ric slurs over the music.

"You're drunk." I mumble to myself and shake my head.

"Ric can't handle alcohol to save his life." Damon rolls his eyes. "I think that's only his third beer and he's already swaying a little."

"I can hold my alcohol Damon." Ric hiccups.

"Whatever. Is Jenna here?" I ask and look around the dance floor in search of the familiar face.

"No." Ric shakes his head.

"Oh what?" I squeal and the sigh. "That sucks."

"Wait a minute, you two know each other?" Damon asks me confused and motions between me and Alaric.

"Unfortunately." I mumble and Ric shoots me a glare. "Ric, I'm hurt. You never mentioned me to Damon here?"

"Wait, _you and Damon_ know each other?" Ric asks this time and I run a hand through my hair.

"Yes. I know Ric and I know Damon. Damon and Ric both know me."

"And I know all of you too!" Caroline butts in and I nudge her.

"Nobody asked you Caroline." I smile sweetly.

"How do you know Ric?" Damon asks me, still looking pretty confused.

"I work with Jenna at the day care centre and she introduced us about a year ago." I explain.

"So you're friends with Jenna too?"

"Yep. I'd say we were _best_ friends."

"Ahem!" Caroline coughs 'discretely'.

"After Caroline and I of course." I add and Caroline smiles smugly.

"Hmm, small world." Damon mumbles.

"Oh my God! I love this song!" Caroline squeals and jumps up from the table, pulling Ric up with her to the dance floor which he happily complies to.

"Who the hell are we friends with?" Damon asks me while staring at Caroline and Ric doing the funky chicken.

"I have no idea."

"So, you don't look sick anymore." Damon smiles happily and takes a long gulp of the bourbon he ordered.

"Nope." I hold my arms out and twirl on the spot. "I'm perfectly healthy again."

"It's my chicken soup. I'm telling you, it works miracles."

"Excuse me..." A waitress interrupts mine and Damon's conversation and places a drink in front of me. "This is from the man at the bar." She tells me and points to an older looking man sitting at the bar and smiling seductively.

"Thanks." I smile to the waitress and glare at the man.

"Wow, looks like you're attracting all the guys tonight." Damon mumbles under his breath but I hear him anyway.

"Hey, do me a favour and wrap your arm around me." I whisper in Damon's ear. He looks confused for a moment before bringing his arm up and wrapping it around my shoulders. I link my fingers through the hand Damon has dangling from my shoulder and smile sweetly at him.

"Not that I'm complaining or anything, but why are we doing this?" Damon asks.

"Because that guy at the bar will think that you're my boyfriend and leave me alone." I explain with an eye roll.

"Oh, so you're just using me?" He asks but with a hint of a smile on his face.

"I guess I am." I smirk.

"Well, you know…" Damon leans down to whisper to me so that his breath is tickling my ear. "I think we should dance. It might make it seem more real." He pulls me up onto my feet by my hand and leads me to the dance floor. He places his hands on my hips and starts to wiggle his, but I just stand there.

"I don't want to dance." I groan.

"Tough." Damon replies and his hands leave my hips to wrap my arms around his neck before meeting my hips again.

"Come on Elena, live a little." Damon whines and pushes my hips side to side gently with his hands. "Unless, you're scared that I'd show you up. I do have some pretty amazing dance moves you know."

"Oh yeah? You're best friends with Ric over there who's currently doing the robot. How amazing could your dancing be?" I scoff and laugh a little at Damon's disturbed face due to his best friend's dance moves.

"Well what about you? You're best friends with Caroline who's attempting to moonwalk right now." He laughs and I look over my shoulder to find Caroline trying – and failing – to moonwalk.

"Yes, but the moonwalk is way classier than the robot. Ask anyone."

"Shut up!" He laughs and spins me around with his arm. He spins me back and grabs me by the waist before dipping me down so that the bottom of my hair touches the floor. He pulls me back up with a satisfied grin on his face and I smile genuinely.

"You're good at this."

"I've got moves you've never seen." He whispers sexily in my ear and gives me an I-told-you-so look. We continue to move together against the loud music and for the first time in a long time, I feel like I don't have any cares in the world – and I revel in that feeling while it lasts.

XXX

Damon and I have been dancing together for the past 20 minutes and we're currently dancing to a slow song, my head resting against Damon's chest and his on top of my head.

"Do you think that guy got the idea by now?" I murmur against Damon's chest.

"I think so. He's gone anyway." He says almost reluctantly.

"Good, he was a creep." I reply and can feel Damon laugh lightly by the ripples moving through his chest.

"Do you want to stop dancing?" He whispers and I shake my head.

"No."

We continue to dance slowly in each other's embrace. If anyone who didn't know Damon or I looked at us, they'd think we were lovers. But then again, I guess that was the whole idea of dancing together.

"You know, it's funny." Damon murmurs. "I couldn't get you to dance at first and now I can't get you to stop."

"You really need to get your sense of humour checked out – it's not really that funny." I smile into his chest. "…and stop rolling your eyes."

"How did you know that I was rolling my eyes?" He asks and I lift my head up to look at him.

"I didn't, I guessed. You're rolling your eyes most of the time anyway." I shrug.

"That's only when I'm around you. You like to insult me a lot."

"I like to insult everyone. It's kind of my thang."

"You're _thang?"_ Damon repeats with a smirk on his face.

"Yes, my thang." I say with a nod.

"Elena!" Caroline shouts my name from across the dance floor and walks over – sorry, stumbles over – to me and Damon. I remove myself from Damon's arms and pretend not to notice the disappointed look on his face.

"I thought that I'd lost you." She cries and hugs me tightly.

"I was right here Caroline." I cringe lightly and pat her shoulder affectionately.

"I know, but I couldn't find you and I got scared." She pulls back from the hug and has tears in her eyes.

"Now _you're _drunk?"

"No!" She scoffs.

"Yes you are. You're a very emotional drunk Caroline and right now you're crying because you haven't seen me in a half hour. Survey says - drunk."

"Whatever." She shrugs and then grabs mine and Damon's hands. "Let's do shots!" She squeals happily and pulls us over to the bar where I find Ric.

XXX

"One, two, three, shot!" Damon yells and the four of us down a shot of tequila before sucking on limes.

"Whoo!" Caroline shouts and shakes her head against the strength of the tequila. As I've just downed my third shot, I begin to feel a little sick and blink a few times to get rid of the water from my eyes that was put there by the sourness of the lime.

"I'm going to go and get some air." I tell Caroline while Damon and Ric are busy talking about something to do with cars. _Men._

She nods her head and I leave my purse with her. I squeeze through the masses of people dancing and grinding upon each other and find the nearest exit. I rest my back against the cold brick wall of the alleyway I've found myself in and close my eyes. My head is starting to hurt and I'm a little worried in case I throw up. I'm not drunk or anything, but I've never handled my alcohol well. I should have stopped drinking after that second beer I had.

I hear a door creak open and open my eyes to find a man dressed in casual jeans and a t-shirt staring at me creepily.

"Erm, can I help you?" I ask.

"No." He shrugs. "I'm just here as a favour for a friend."

"And what friend is that?"

"Mason Lockwood." He smirks and I swear that my heart skips a beat – and not in the good way.

"M...Mason." I stutter. "What…What are you talking about?"

"You are the girlfriend of Mason Lockwood aren't you? He asks and takes a step closer to me.

"Ex-girlfriend." I correct him and try to hide the fear slowly creeping into my body.

"Mason doesn't seem to think that you've broken up." He shrugs.

"Well I dumped his ass the day he tried to kill me." I hiss.

"He told me to tell you that he didn't mean to do that."

"He didn't _mean_ to stab me? So…what? The knife just slipped into my stomach? Or did you mean that he didn't _mean_ to run out of our apartment and leave me to die on the kitchen floor?"

"Any of it." He says.

"Whatever. You can give Mason a message from me." I smirk and step closer so that I can whisper to the mystery man. "Tell him not to drop the soap while showering - Or do. I honestly don't care anymore."

I go to step away from him but he grabs my wrist tightly and pulls me back to face him.

"Oh no _Elena, _I've been waiting all night to get you alone. You're not going anywhere." He smirks evilly and backs me up against the wall, the large hand covering my mouth preventing me from screaming for help.

XXX

DPOV

"Are you fucking kidding me? Ferrari's are way better than Lamborghini's." I tell my idiot of a best friend for the third time in the past ten minutes.

"You're just saying that because you have one." He rolls his eyes.

"No, I'm saying it because it's the truth."

"Here's your drinks." The bartender says and pushes four more shot glasses filled with tequila in my direction.

"Alright guys, drink- Hey, where did Elena go?" I ask the blonde on my right and look around the club for the beautiful brunette.

"Oh, she said that she wanted to get some air." Caroline explains and pulls a shot glass from one of my hands before downing it in one gulp.

"Is she alright?" I ask casually, trying to hide the concern I'm feeling right now so that I won't get ripped to shreds by the wasted dick to the left of me. _Ric._

"Oh, she'll be fine." She waves her hand in a don't-worry-about-it motion. "She always needs to take a breather after a few drinks. Besides, this is a bonus, more shots for us." She smirks and picks up the shot meant for Elena before downing it again.

I drink my shot and hope that she'll be back soon so that I can stop worrying. After 5 minutes of waiting, I decide to go and look for her.

"I'm going to go pee." I say to whoever is listening but instead of heading towards the bathroom, I head to the main entrance to the club and step outside onto the street.

"Elena?" I say into the night and listen closely for a reply but I get nothing.

I step into a dark alleyway down the side of the club and say her name again.

"Elena?"

I squint my eyes in the darkness of the alleyway and try my hardest to see. When I don't see anything, I'm about to turn around and head back the way I came from when I hear a muffled whimper. I stop walking and strain my ears to listen again. This time I hear a loud crash as if someone has knocked something over.

"Hello?" I say into the night and begin to walk down the alleyway. I begin to make out a small light coming from a door at the side of the club building and then I see two figures against a brick wall. _Great, I've found two drunk people having sex. _

I roll my eyes and go to turn around again when something stops me. It's too dark to make out faces but it looks like the guy is forcing himself upon the girl. I hear a whimper again and decide to intervene.

"Hey." I say to the guy and walk closer towards the figures.

"Go away." The guy grunts angrily.

"What are you doing?" I ask, completely ignoring the anger radiating off this asshole.

He pushes away from the wall and the girl drops to the floor.

"Why don't you just fuck off man?" He hisses at me and I raise my eyebrows in surprise.

"Damon." I hear a quiet murmur and turn my head towards the girl. And that's when I notice it - The Aztec print dress, the black heels and the long brown hair.

"Elena?" I whimper and swallow the lump in my throat. I turn back to the guy who has a smug smile on his face and I lose it.

I charge at the guy and see his eyes widen in surprise before I tackle him to the floor. I punch him in the face numerous times and all I see is red. Red from the blood on his face and red from the anger I feel towards this dickhole for touching Elena – _My _Elena.

"Damon." I hear _her_ say again and slow my punches to a stop. _What am I doing? _I should be taking care of Elena, not trying to kill this guy. I jump away from him where he is clutching his face in pain and kick him in the ribs once as I step over him and rush to Elena's side.

"Elena." I manage to croak out and crouch down by her side. I stroke her hair affectionately and my hand comes away red. _Blood._

"Get me away from here." She whispers with tears in her eyes, a few managing to escape and sliding down her perfect cheeks. I nod my head and place one arm underneath her legs, the other behind her head and lift her up bridal style. I carry her to my Camaro parked in the parking lot and place her in the passenger seat. I run over to the driver's side and get inside, turning the small overhead light on so that I can see her.

She's crying and has shock and fear written all over her face and I feel so helpless. I rip the bottom part of my T-shirt away and dap it to the bleeding spot on her head. She whimpers a few times and I feel sick at the sight of how much pain she is in.

"I'm so sorry." I whisper to her but she doesn't look up to meet my eyes. I hold the material from my T-shit to her head and press down lightly to stop the blood flow.

With one hand pressed to her head, I dial a number for a cab on my phone with the other one. We sit in silence until the cab gets here with the exception of small whimpers coming from Elena. I try my best to think of something I can say to comfort her but nothing comes to mind. _What do you say in this situation?_

When the cab arrives, I carry Elena out of my car and over to back seat of the cab. The cab driver gives me a funny look and I try to think of an explanation as to why I have a bleeding crying girl in my arms right now.

"She err, got a little drunk and fell." I say quickly and the cab driver relaxes his face.

"The hospital?" He suggests and I nod.

"Yeah."

"No!" Elena cries. "Please Damon, no hospital."

"Elena, you've hurt your head and God knows what else. You need to go to the hospital." I explain calmly but she continues to shake her head.

"No. I'll be fine. Please, no hospital." She begs me with scared wide eyes and my heart breaks for her. "_Please."_

"Okay." I sigh. "No hospital. But you're staying with me where I can keep an eye on you." I say firmly and she nods her head gently.

I give the cab driver my address and spend the rest of the cab journey praying that I've made the right decision.

**A/N: So this chapter was kind of intense, huh? I hope you enjoyed it anyway.**

**Let me know…**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who read/ reviewed/ favourited/ followed – it really does mean a lot to me!**

DPOV

"Come on." I say quietly and lift Elena out of the cab when we arrive at my house. I knock on the front door and wait for Emily, my housekeeper, to unlock the door for me.

"Mr Salvatore." She says with surprise and then looks at Elena who I'm holding in my arms.

"Emily, can you get the first aid kit and meet me in my bedroom please?" I ask while moving past her into the house, Elena still being carried bridal style.

"Of course." She nods. I know that she probably has a lot of questions as to why I'm bringing a bleeding girl home, but I can only bring myself to care about Elena at this point. I head towards my bedroom with Elena still in my arms while Emily goes in search of a first aid kit I keep around the house for when Ric and I get into our weekly drunken bar fights.

My bedroom is big. The giant king size bed I have is the biggest thing in my room. There's also a walk-in closet full of my clothes and an en-suite bathroom.

I head into the bathroom and sit Elena down on the counter next to the sink. I brush some hair from her face and run the pad of my thumb down her tear-stained cheeks. A girl has never looked more beautiful crying than Elena does right now.

I pull a tissue out of the small tissue box I keep on the bathroom counter and dab her eyes gently with it.

"Come in." I murmur to the quiet knock on my bedroom door, my eyes never leaving Elena's face.

"Here you go, Mr Salvatore." Emily says gently, handing me a large first aid kit. She gives Elena a sympathetic look and heads back out of my bedroom again. I open the box up and pull out a small bottle of anti-bacterial spray. I gently move Elena's hair to one side so that I am able to see the cut on the back of her head. It's not too big that she needs to have stiches, but big enough to see it clearly.

"This might hurt a little." I whisper to her and hold up the spray in my hand for her to see. I wait for her to give me the OK and when she does, I spray a couple of drops onto the cut. Elena tenses a little a first but relaxes again after a few seconds. I continue to tend to the cut on her head and I notice that Elena's eyes never meet mine. Instead, she looks like she's deep in thought, worrying about something.

"Elena…" I say when I've finished paying attention to her head. "Does it hurt anywhere else?"

"My back." She mumbles and I see her lip tremble slightly. I nod my head once and help her to slide off the counter. I stand behind her but I can't get a look at her back due to her dress being in the way.

"Elena, I need to move your dress out of the way so that I can look at your back, okay?" I ask and wait a few moments before she nods hesitantly. I slowly pull the zipper on the back of her dress down and the further I move, the more sharp red cuts appear to me because of the rough brick wall she was forced against. I gasp involuntary and Elena hears me because she cocks her head to the side to try and see what I'm seeing.

"What is it?" She whispers. I push her forward slightly so she's stood in front of the full-length mirror in my bathroom and she looks behind her. "Oh my God." She mutters.

I wet a cloth I find under my sink and gently dab at the cuts to get rid of some of the small specks of dried blood before applying anti-bacterial spray again.

"They'll heal in a few days." I say to try and calm her down. She nods her head and then looks away from the mirror.

"Come on, I'll find you some looser clothes for your back." I lead her back into my bedroom and sit her on the bed before walking into the closet. I pull a black John Varvatos button-down shirt from a hanger and some grey sweatpants from the shelf. I hand them to her and she holds them in her hands awkwardly.

"You can get changed in the bathroom." I say quickly. Once she heads to the bathroom, I sit on my bed and run my hands through my hair with a loud sigh. _What would have happened if I didn't come looking for her? _No, don't even think about it Damon.

After a few moments, Elena returns from the bathroom in the clothes that I'd given her. The shirt sleeves are rolled up to her elbows and the sweatpants are pulled tighter around her waist to stop them from falling down. The clothes are _so _big on her that I would have laughed if the circumstances were different. _If only the circumstances were different. _If _only _I'd spent the night making her scream my name instead of tending to the cuts given to her by that animal. If _only _we could spend the night rolling around on my bed, limbs tangled together instead of thinking about what could have happened had I not showed up. If _only_ wecould try to figure out where my body ends and where hers begins instead of wondering where we go from here. If _only._

Elena sits down awkwardly on the bed next to me and looks at me for the first time since her attack. Her eyes look empty and she has a small smile on her face.

"Thank you." She whispers and I smile lightly.

"You're welcome." I whisper back. We turn our heads away from each other and stare at the empty spaces in front of us, each lost in our own thoughts.

"Elena?" I say suddenly, effectively bringing her out of the thought she's in. "That guy… he didn't… I mean, he never… did he?" I can't bring myself to say the word – That one word that never fails to disgust me. _Rape. _Even without knowing the meaning of the word it makes you feel sick.

"No." She says firmly, obviously understanding what I'm asking. I let out a shaky breath of relief and send her a small smile.

"Come on, get some sleep. I'll be in the bedroom next door." I tell her and pull the covers back on the bed so that she can slide underneath them.

"No!" She cries suddenly. "You don't have to go. I'm not taking your bed."

"Elena, it's fine really-"

"I don't want to be alone." She whispers lightly and looks down at the floor.

"Okay." I nod my head once. "I'll just sleep on the floor then."

"You're sleeping on the floor?"

"Why not?" I shrug. "I've slept in worse places than my bedroom floor."

"Damon, stop being an awkward prick and just sleep in your bed." She groans and I look at her in shock before a smirk slowly spreads across my face. _She's back._

"Okay." I mumble and pretend not to be happy that I'm about to share a bed with a beautiful woman. _My _bed.

I crawl underneath the covers and once Elena does the same, I turn the light out. We look at each other in the dark room and I see Elena's eyes widen slightly before she reaches down for the hand I beat that guy's ass with and wipes her thumb over my knuckles.

"Your hand." She mutters. "Are you okay?"

I can't help it, I have to laugh. "Elena, you're the one that got jumped by some random guy tonight and you're asking if _I'm _okay? You are something else."

"He wasn't really a random guy, you know?" She whispers after a few moments and the smile falls from my face.

"What do you mean?" I ask hesitantly and Elena opens her mouth to speak before changing her mind and closing it again.

"Elena, did you know that guy?" I demand this time.

"No, not him personally, but…I… Never mind." She stutters.

"No Elena, you can't just say something like that and then drop it."

"I'm not dropping it, it's just hard for me Damon."

"What's hard for you?" I ask, my eyebrows scrunching together in confusion.

"Everything." She mumbles.

"Elena." I whisper gently and run my hand down her cheek. "Talk to me."

"I will." She nods. "Tomorrow."

"Promise?" I ask and she holds her pinkie finger out to me.

"I do this with the kids at work all the time. I can't break a pinkie promise – it's my one rule." She smiles and I smile back in return. I link my pinkie finger with hers and squeeze lightly before breaking away.

XXX

EPOV

I wake up to the sound of birds chirping outside the window. _Urgh, birds_. Why do they even exist? They don't do anything useful.

My God, my head is killing me. How much did I drink last night? _Wait…_ What the hell is that?

I look down to the arm wrapped around my waist and widen my eyes. _No. _Please tell me that I didn't have sex last night!

I look around the room I'm currently in and notice that it's about the size of my whole apartment.

I try to roll over gently but feel the arm tighten on my waist and hold me against a body that I can feel behind me. After several more attempts I'm finally able to wiggle free and turn around on the bed to see who I slept with.

_Damon. _Suddenly, last night comes rushing back to me. Mason's friend attacking me in an alleyway, Damon saving me, bringing me home and treating my wounds. I breathe a sigh of relief that I didn't sleep with anyone last night.

I stare at Damon while he's still sleeping and look at how peaceful he looks. His dark eyelashes fluttering against his cheek, his black hair sticking up in different directions, his pink lips parted slightly. He is one beautiful piece of man meat. Why couldn't I have met Damon before Mason?

I trace his features with one finger and feel how soft his porcelain skin is. He stirs slightly underneath my hand and I remove my finger quickly as if I've just been burned. His eyelashes flutter a few times before he opens his eyes and blue meet brown.

"Hi." He smiles to me after a few moments.

"Hi back."

"How are you feeling?" He asks.

"I'm okay." I nod. Damon rolls onto his back and stretches his arms above his head with a yawn. He smacks his lips together a few times before pursing them together in thought.

"I'm hungry." He announces and I smile.

"You're always hungry."

"Whatever." He rolls his eyes. "Now, I'm _really_ hungry." He jumps up from the bed and walks over to the side that I'm on. He smirks down at me and holds a hand out. I take his hand in mine and he pulls me up from the bed steadily that so that I don't hurt my back anymore than I already have.

He guides me down the large staircase and into a huge dining room that's linked to a kitchen. He sits me down at the dining table on one of the huge wooden chairs and my eyes widen at the mountains of food lay out onto the table.

"Good morning Mr Salvatore." A man with a heavy Italian accent says as he enters the room. He smiles kindly at Damon before noticing me and frowning slightly. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realise that you had company."

"It's fine, Carlo." Damon replies to him. "Can you bring me an extra plate for my guest?" He asks kindly. 'Carlo' nods his head and disappears back into the kitchen.

I look at Damon with a confused face and he laughs a little.

"That's my chef." He says as if it's the most obvious thing in the world and I scoff.

"Did you just say _your chef?" _

"Yep."

"Jesus, I mean I always knew that you had more than enough money but first a housekeeper, now a chef. Don't tell me that you have a monkey butler somewhere." I say with disbelief but then change my mind. "Actually, please _do _tell me that you have a monkey butler somewhere, I've always wanted to see one."

"Sorry." He cringes and then shakes his head. "That's one thing that I don't have."

"You suck." I pout and lean back into the chair I'm in. Carlo comes back with a plate and places it in front of me.

"Can I get you anything miss?" He asks with a warm smile.

"No thank you." I reply and return his smile. He nods once before looking at Damon.

"Mr Salvatore?" He asks.

"No thanks Carlo, that's everything."

Breakfast is filled with light conversation between me and Damon and we both ignore the huge purple pole-dancing elephant in the room – _Mason_. Last night I promised Damon that I would tell him about Mason. Why did I have to _pinkie promise_ him? Damn me and my stupid pinkie rule!

"So wait a minute?" I ask and swallow the part of pancake that I'm chewing on. "Why do you have a chef anyway? It's not like you can't cook."

"Elena, I spend most of my time in an office. When I come home, the last thing I want to do is stand over a hot cooker and make myself a meal for one." He explains and takes a drink of his coffee.

After breakfast, Damon leads me into the parlour and we sit down on one of the huge antique couches.

"What are we doing in here?" I ask and look around the huge room.

"I want to introduce you to someone." Damon smiles excitedly and I raise an eyebrow.

"Who?"

"Just… wait." He says. He places two fingers on top of his lip and whistles loudly. After a few seconds pass by and nothing changes, I give Damon a strange look and he smirks.

"Damon, aren't you a little old to have an imaginary friend? You're 25 years old for-" I stop talking when I hear a quick pitter-patter in the distance. "What is that?" I ask him and strain my ears to listen better. The noise gets louder and louder until suddenly, a huge white fur-ball charges its way into the parlour and jumps on top of me and Damon. Damon pushes the large dog off us and laughs at my wide grin.

"Elena, this is Chester." He tells me and I happily pet the dog.

"Put your hand out." He says and I raise my eyebrows before complying and holding my hand out in front of me.

"Chester, shake." Damon commands the dog and Chester places his paw into the hand that I held out in front of me. I laugh and wrap my hand around his paw, shaking it up and down slightly.

"You have a dog?" I squeal excitedly.

"No, Elena." Damon rolls his eyes. "This is my monkey butler."

"Shut up dick." I laugh. "I love dogs!"

"Me too. I found him abandoned on the side of a road 2 years ago. He was just a puppy." He says with a sad smile.

"So someone just left him there?" I exclaim and Damon nods his head. "How could someone do that?"

"I don't know." He mumbles.

I pet Chester for a few moments and try to ignore Damon's eyes burning into the side of my face.

"Elena…" He mutters.

"I know." I sigh. "I promised to explain everything."

I remove my hand from petting Chester's head which he replies to with a sad whine. I look at Damon and run a hand through my hair nervously.

"I erm, I don't really know where to start." I mumble but Damon doesn't say anything and waits patiently for me to begin. "The only person who knows about this stuff is Caroline."

"You can trust me Elena." He says sincerely but those words that were said to bring me comfort just made me more confused.

"That's just the thing Damon, I don't know if I can trust you. I don't know if I can trust _anyone_ anymore." I point out and Damon frowns slightly. "It's not that I don't want to trust you, I just don't think I'm capable of it anymore." I sigh loudly. _Here goes._

"I used to date this guy, Mason. He was the person that I trusted more than anyone, even Caroline. We err, we met at a charity auction and I started to fall for him the moment I laid eyes on him. Cliché I know, but it's true. He was perfect – or so I thought he was."

"Skip to a year in of our relationship and he lost his job at a law firm. He started to turn cold towards me. Basically, he turned into a douchebag – a huge one. He treated me like crap." I look away from Damon's intense gaze and down at my hands. "He even hit me a couple times." I whisper and see Damon squeeze his hands into fists from the corner of my eye but he doesn't say anything.

"God, I'm such an idiot!" I exclaim suddenly. "If I had just left the first time he touched me, it never would have happened!"

"Elena." Damon says my name calmly. "What happened?"

"Mason came back to the apartment we shared one night." I resume quietly and my mind takes me back to that moment so that I'm reliving it again. "He was acting weird and it scared me. I called him out on the way he was behaving towards me and he got angry. I threatened to leave him and he… he…"

I shake my head and a tear escapes from my eye.

"Elena." Damon says in a tight voice. "What did he do?"

"He… He stabbed me." I whisper and hear Damon gasp. "With a kitchen knife, he stabbed me and then left me on the kitchen floor to bleed to death. The man that meant everything to me just left me there to die. The man I loved more than life itself tried to kill me."

I take a few shaky breaths to try and calm myself down and turn to look at Damon. His eyes are looking away from me and he is frowning angrily. He must feel me staring at him because he turns to head to look at me and relaxes the hard features on his face.

"What did the guy last night have to do with it?" He asks.

"Before he attacked me, he said that he was doing a favour for a friend. He said his friends name was Mason."

We sit in an awkward silence for a few moments and Damon stares into space as if he's thinking hard. I place my hand over his and squeeze a little.

"Damon? Please say something." I whisper. He looks at me again, his blue eyes showing sadness and he swallows roughly.

"I'm so sorry that happened to you." He whispers back and returns the squeeze on my hand. "But I'm going to protect you." He says genuinely but I shake my head.

"You can't."

"Yes I can." He replies confidently and holds his pinkie out for me. "I promise."

I laugh a little and wipe the tears away from my eyes with the back of my hand before wrapping my pinkie around Damon's.

"Promise."

**A/N: Thanks for reading! **

**Let me know what you think…**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I had some trouble with writing this chapter, nothing I wrote seemed to work. I re-wrote the whole chapter at least twice and I'm still not happy with it. I hope it's not **_**completely**_** bad…**

EPOV

"I bet you $20 that I can beat you?"

"Wow $20? You're feeling really daring today aren't you?" Damon says sarcastically

"Shut it dick. We can't all bet our life savings like you can."

"Alright." He shrugs. "$20 it is."

I've been temporarily living at Damon's since the 'incident' on Friday night. It's now Sunday afternoon and we've been spending these past two days doing the most stupid things we could think of – like now. I bet Damon that I could eat more chilli peppers than him in 5 minutes.

I pick up the jar containing the chilli peppers and try to twist the lid so it opens but it doesn't even budge. Damon stares at me with an amused smirk and rests his head in the palm on his hand, his elbow resting on the kitchen counter.

"Need some help?" He teases. I glare at him angrily and turn around so that my back is facing him.

I can do this. I am a strong independent woman, I don't need _him. _I survived a knife wound to the stomach for God's sakes. A jar of chilli peppers isn't going to defeat me. Nothing can defeat me. I am Elena Gilbert. This jar of chilli peppers is going down!

Yeah, I can't do this.

With a loud sigh, I turn back around to face Damon and hand him the jar without saying anything.

"Weakling." He mutters and takes the jar from my hand. He places his palm over the lid and with one sharp twist, it pulls off with a _pop_. I stare at Damon in shock and see him place a wide smug grin across his face.

"Don't look so smug." I mumble and take the jar from his hands. "I loosened it for you."

I put the chilli peppers onto a plate and place it on the kitchen counter in-between Damon and I.

"Ready to lose Salvatore?" I ask with narrowed eyes.

"You're going down Gilbert."

We begin to munch on the peppers against the clock and after the third one, I'm certain that my mouth is physically in fire.

"It burns!" I groan loudly and stick my tongue out of my mouth to try and 'put the fire out.'

"Why the hell did I agree to this?" Damon mumbles and wipes his tongue with the back of his hand.

"This was a stupid idea." I say with a slight lisp due to my tongue currently hanging out from my mouth. Damon glares at me with slightly wet eyes from the heat of the chilli's.

"This was _your _idea!" He cries and touches his eye to wipe away the moisture gathering there.

"Ahh!" He yells and covers the eye he just wiped with his hand. "Little tip, don't touch chilli peppers and then touch your eye."

"Oh my God, are you okay?" I cry and run around the counter to help Damon but knock the plate containing the peppers on the floor in the process. "Whoops."

Suddenly, Chester runs into the kitchen with a skid and spots the peppers lying on the floor. He sniffs them a few times before placing one in his mouth.

"Chester, no! Bad dog!" I yell and try to get the chilli from his mouth but he runs away from me as if it's a big game. I chase him around the kitchen while Damon is busy trying to wash the chilli essence out from his eye in the kitchen sink. _This is not how I planned this to go._

"What the hell is going on in here!" Carlo yells suddenly and stomps into the kitchen. I come to a sudden halt, Chester stops running away from me and Damon stops splashing water onto his eye and looks up at Carlo.

"It was him!" "It was her!" We both yell at the same time and point our fingers in each other's directions. Damon and I glare at each other angrily for a few moments before bursting our laughing and holding our stomachs.

"Are you okay?" I ask him again, this time through giggles, and make my way over to him by the sink to take a look at his slightly red eye.

"Yeah." He chuckles. "This was stupid."

"Agreed." I nod. I see Chester spit the chilli pepper out from his mouth and run out of the kitchen.

"Let's do something else." Damon suggests and I nod my head before following him out of the kitchen.

"I'll just clean this up then, shall I?" Carlo yells to us as we cross the parlour.

"Thanks Carlo, that would be great!" Damon yells back with a wink and cheeky smile on his face. This weekend definitely hasn't been boring, that's for sure.

XXX

"You don't have to go, you know." Damon says for the third time this morning.

"Yes I do Damon. I have to go to work and I'm pretty sure that you do too."

"Elena!" He whines.

"_Damon." _I tease in the same tone of voice he used. I lean up on my tip-toes, my hands resting on his shoulders and press a light kiss to his cheek. I pull away and laugh lightly at the stunned expression on his face.

"Thank you for a great weekend." I say. "I had fun – considering the reason that I was here in the first place."

"You're welcome Elena." He says seriously and maintains eye contact with me. I notice many different emotions swimming around in his bluer-than-blue eyes, but before I have time to decipher what they mean, he breaks eye contact with me and clears his throat awkwardly.

"Promise me that you'll be careful." He asks and I nod my head.

"Of course I'll be careful Damon." He seems to relax a little at my words and smiles sadly.

"You better go before you're late." He sighs.

"Okay." I nod. "And I promise to return your underwear back to you soon."

So I may have borrowed Damon's underwear while I've been staying here these past few days. Sue me.

"Yeah you better." He warns teasingly. "I gave you my lucky pair."

"You have lucky underwear?" I laugh.

"Yeah, and you don't." He scoffs and when I raise my eyebrows to him, he narrows his in confusion. "Wait, you _don't?"_

"You're a strange one Salvatore." I tease and pat his cheek lightly before making my way to the huge front door.

I see a yellow cab waiting to take me to work and I give Damon one more look before turning on my heel and heading towards the cab.

"Elena." Damon says my name and wraps his fingers around my wrist lightly to pull me back. "I… Call me later?" He asks.

"Okay." I nod and Damon releases his grip from around my wrist. I get in the cab and the driver takes my work address from me before heading down the long driveway and taking me back to the real world.

XXX

"So Alex, how was your weekend?" I ask the 7 year old as we both continue to play with building blocks. _Did I mention how much I love my job?_

"Good. My Auntie Katie took me to the park on Saturday." He beams and I try to smile back but fail miserably.

"Why… Why didn't your parents take you to the park?" I ask gently.

"Mommy said that she had an appointment at the salon and daddy was busy with work stuff." He explains but I don't miss the sad look on his face.

"Does that bother you?"

"Sometimes." He shrugs. "But mommy said that it's important that she looks good for daddy."

Alex drops the building block that he's holding and looks up at me with sad eyes.

"'Lena?"

"Yeah?"

"Do mommy and daddy love me?" He asks slowly and I swear that my heart breaks a little.

"Of course they do Alex." I place my hand over his and send him a small smile.

"I sometimes hear them at night saying that there something wrong with me. _Is_ there something wrong with me?"

"No. You're just really special." I explain and he stays quite for a few moments before speaking again.

"Do you love me?"

"Yes." I show him a toothy grin. "You know I do."

"I love you too. You're my best friend 'Lena." He smiles back and continues concentrating on his building blocks. I wipe at my eyes with the back of hand to try and get rid of the few water droplets gathered there. It's so sad that Alex has to ask someone if they love him. I've always failed to understand how Alex's parents treat him the way they do. If he was my son, I'd shower him with the love he deserves every day, not ignore him. He's the kindest little boy I've ever known.

"Elena!" Jenny, the receptionist, shouts my name from the main door to the play area I'm currently in and waves me over with her hand.

"I'll be right back Alex." I tell him and he nods his head before I stand up and walk over to Jenny.

"What's up?" I ask and follow her into the waiting area of the day care centre that parents usually wait in to pick up their children at the end of the day.

"You have a visitor." She explains and I grow confused.

"A visitor?" I ask and then sigh. "God, it's Caroline again isn't it? Why does she always think that my work hours are a good time to gossip?

"It's not Caroline." Jenny smiles.

"Well who is it then?"

"Me." I hear that familiar sultry voice announce and look away from Jenny to find Damon leaning against Jenny's receptionist desk and smirking at me.

"Damon? How did you find out this is where I worked?" I ask. I remember telling Damon that I worked with children, but I never told him _where _I worked.

"Your best friend happens to be my assistant Elena. You do the math."

"Oh. Well what are you doing here?"

"What? No 'Damon, thank you so much for gracing me with your presence? It's so good to see you'?"

"Damon, thank you so much for gracing me with your presence. It's so good to see you." I tease. "What are you doing here?"

"I thought I could take you out to lunch." He shrugs as if it's obvious.

"I can't." I say regretfully. "I'm still busy with the kids." I apologise to him but then an idea hits me.

"Actually… I want you to meet someone."

"What? Who?"

"My best friend."

"I've already met Caroline, Elena." Damon says rolling his eyes.

"Not Caroline idiot."

"Who Jenna? Because I've already met her too you know. She _is _engaged to my best friend."

"Not Jenna either."

"Well who then?"

"Are you coming or not?" I ask and hold the door open for him as a signal to follow me.

"Jenny, it was great meeting you." Damon winks and kisses Jenny's hand before following me.

"Seriously? You're flirting with Jenny?" I laugh.

"Of course. How else do you think I got her to bring you to me?"

"You're relentless." I say with a shake of my head.

Damon follows me into the play area and I lead him over to Alex.

"Alex…" I say and he lifts his head up from the table to smile at me. "This is Damon. Damon, this is Alex, my best friend." I introduce them both and send Alex a wink.

"Hey Alex, it's nice to meet you buddy." Damon says politely and shakes Alex's hand as if it's an important business meeting which makes me laugh.

"Damon, he's seven years old. You don't have to shake his hand." I whisper to him with a smile on my face.

"Hi Damon, I'm Alex, Elena's best friend." Alex says to him and smiles widely at the fact he gets to call me his best friend.

"So Alex, what do you for fun around here?" Damon asks him and sits down on one of the tiny chairs opposite Alex.

"I draw pictures and eat ice-cream." Alex says smugly and I glare at him.

"Alex, the ice-cream is a secret, remember? Stop telling everyone that you meet."

"Elena gives me ice-cream." Alex whispers to Damon across the table as if I can't hear everything that he's saying.

"You never give me ice-cream." Damon pouts teasingly.

"Because you're never a good boy." I fire back.

"I can be a good boy if you want me to." Damon smirks and wiggles his eyebrows.

"Are you Elena's boyfriend?" Alex asks suddenly and Damon's smirk turns into a toothy grin.

"No." I say firmly but glare at Damon instead looking at Alex. "He's not my boyfriend."

"I'm just a friend who happens to be a boy." Damon explains to him and Alex's mouth makes an O shape.

"I think you should be." Alex says.

"I should be what?" Damon asks.

"Elena's boyfriend."

I laugh awkwardly while Damon smiles at Alex's reaction to him.

"I like you kid." He announces and leans back into his chair, his hands locked together and resting behind his head while he smiles smugly at me.

XXX

Damon, Alex and I have been hanging out for the past hour. We played monopoly even though Alex didn't really understand the rules of the game so just made them up as he went along – he won of course. We played with children's musical instruments for 20 minutes before Damon started to sing and play the tune to _sex bomb _and I decided that was enough. I also snuck us some ice-cream to share and we ate it while drawing pictures of each other. After the hour mark hit of Damon visiting Alex and I, he had to leave.

"Will I see you again Damon?" Alex asks him as he slips into his suit jacket.

"I hope so buddy." Damon replies and ruffles his hair up a little but Alex smacks his hand away.

"Don't touch the hair." He warns seriously and I laugh at Damon's shocked expression.

"Come on." I say to Damon who still has wide eyes at Alex's sudden threat and pull him over to the main door.

"This was fun." I giggle as I walk Damon to his car.

"Yeah, it was." He agrees. "Although, I'm never touching Alex's hair again."

"Yeah, he doesn't really like people touching his hair unless you give him ice-cream." I laugh.

"Okay, so ice-cream before hair ruffle. Got it." He says to himself and I smile.

"He likes you, you know."

"Well it's pretty hard not to." Damon scoffs and holds his arms out around himself.

"Yeah yeah, you're awesome." I tease sarcastically. "Now scram."

"I'm going, I'm going." Damon laughs and climbs into the driver's seat of his car. He pulls out of the parking lot in his red Ferrari and sounds his horn twice as his way of saying goodbye.

XXX

DPOV

"Where the hell have you been?" Ric asks me when I get back to the office after the hour I've spent with Elena and Alex.

"I was out."

"Yeah I gathered that Damon, I didn't think you were hiding underneath your desk again."

"Oh come on Ric. That was _one _time."

"Whatever. So where were you anyway?" He asks again.

"I was with Elena." I explain and take the seat at my desk.

"Oh my God, This is too good!" Ric cries excitedly.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about you. I never thought I'd see the day when Damon Salvatore was into someone."

"I'm not into her." I lie quietly and fumble with the papers on my desk.

"Oh don't give me that bullshit Damon, I know you better than anyone. You so are." Ric laughs.

"Whatever." I mumble.

"So…" Ric sits opposite me and rests his feet on my desk. "What's stopping you from going for her?"

"It's… complicated."

"What's complicated?" He asks confused.

"Her past."

"Cheating ex?" He guesses.

"No."

"…Lesbian?"

"No!"

"Alright, so what?"

"I can't tell you." I say and pull a regretful face.

"You can't tell me?" He repeats with a sly smile.

"No."

"Okay." He says and holds his hands up. "So, what were you doing with Elena?"

"I met her at work and she introduced me to one of the kids she works with." I beam.

"Who did she introduce you to?"

"Alex."

"Oh no." Ric cries suddenly and stands up from his seat. "This is not good."

"What?"

"This is _not _good." He repeats again.

"What's not good?" I ask confused.

"She introduced you to Alex." He mumbles to himself as if he's talking to himself and paces around my office.

"Ric! What the hell are you talking about?"

Ric stops pacing around my office and looks at me with apologetic eyes. He takes a dramatic sigh and sits down again.

"You've totally been friend-zoned." He announces with a serious face that makes me burst out laughing.

"What?"

"Elena has friend-zoned you."

"What do you mean by that?" I ask.

"You know friend-zoned. As in she sees you as a friend - _Only _a friend. You can forget about romantic interest. You're her bitch."

"Oh don't be stupid." I wave him off. "I've not been _friend-zoned_."

"Yes you have. She introduced you to Alex! Alex is one of the most important people in her life. She trusted you enough to meet him because you're her _friend."_

"Ric, stop talking. I've not been friend-zoned, she just has a lot to deal with right now."

"Whatever you say Damon." Ric sighs. "But when you finally make a move on her and she rejects you, I'll be waiting to tell you I told you so."

"You're a really shitty friend you know that?" I chuckle.

"Same goes for you buddy." Ric smirks and stands up from my desk again. "I better go and leave you to actually get on with some work."

"Yeah, get the hell out of my office." I mumble and Ric laughs. He exits my office and goes to close the door behind him but Caroline pushes past him and storms in.

"Ric! Don't leave me!" I yell to him when I notice the pissed look on Caroline's face but Ric practically runs away and leaves me hanging. _Bastard._

Caroline stands in front of my desk with her arms folded and shoots daggers at me.

"What did I do now?" I sigh and lean back into my chair to prepare myself for the lecture I know I'm going to be getting.

"What did you do now?" Caroline repeats with a humourless laugh. "What the hell happened on Friday night? Elena texted me saying that she's staying with you for a few days. I swear to God Damon, if you took advantage of her-"

"-Woah!" I interrupt. "Let me stop you right there Blondie. I've never taken 'advantage' of anyone in my life and I never will, especially not Elena. If you'd let me get a word in before you starting accusing me of taking advantage of your best friend then you'd know that I had actually saved her."

"Saved her? From who?" She asks nervously and sits down in the chair that was previously occupied by Alaric.

"Some guy." I shrug. "Apparently he's a friend of Mason's."

"Mason?" Caroline breathes out with wide eyes. "How do you know about Mason?"

"Elena told me." I explain and watch her mouth drop open and practically hit the floor.

"She told you?" She shrieks and I cover my ears.

"Yes. She told me."

"She told you?" She asks again and I nod my head slowly. "She _actually _toldyou?"

"Yes Caroline. I thought we established that she _actually _told me." I say becoming slightly irritated. "I mean I know you're blonde but work with me here."

"I'm sorry but I find it hard to believe that she told _you _after knowing you for just a few weeks yet it took her nearly two months to tell _me _the full story of what happened when she's known me for _years_."

"It took her two months to tell you?" I ask with confusion written all over my face before placing a smug smirk over my lips. "Well I guess we know who the favourite is now." I tease.

"Shut up Damon." She groans and storms out of my office.

"Don't hate me 'cause you aint me!" I yell to her with a huge grin on my face.

_Friend-zoned. _Ha. Yeah right, Ric.

**A/N: Let me know what you think…**


	7. Chapter 7

EPOV

"Girls night rules." Caroline says with a mouthful of ice-cream.

"Well it would rule if you didn't force me to watch these shitty romance movies." I groan and take a huge bite from the chocolate brownie Caroline baked.

"What do you mean? These movies are amazing!"

"No they aren't. They all have the same storylines. Two people meet, really don't like each other and then fall in love. The end."

"They aren't the same." Caroline murmurs.

"No?" I raise an eyebrow and pick up the list of movies Caroline has brought over with her to my apartment.

"_The Proposal –_ Two people don't like each other and then fall in love. _What happens in Vegas _– Two people don't like each other and then fall in love. _10 things I hate about you,_ _Life as we know it, _you even have _Shrek – _again they don't like each other at first. Do I need to continue?"

"Shut up Elena." Caroline mumbles and pulls the movies out from my hands. "Where's your romantic side?"

"I think Mason stabbed it out of me." I say with an eye roll and take another bite of my brownie.

"Oh don't give me that 'you've given up on love' bullshit. You're 23 years old Elena – not 78! And besides, I've seen how you are around Damon." She says with a sly smile.

"Okay O-Wise one, elaborate."

"You like him!" She yells to me and throws her arms up in the arm with a huff.

"I do not like Damon." I scoff.

"Yes you do! You just don't want to admit it."

"And why's that?" I sigh and look down at my nails as if they have suddenly become very interesting.

"Because you're scared of being hurt again. You're scared of trusting someone only to be hurt by them again. But you told him about Mason, Elena – if that doesn't say that you already trust him, I don't know what does."

"Caroline, I _can't_ like Damon."

"Why not?"

"Because we didn't hate each other first. By definition of these romance movies, we can't fall in love without hating each other fi-" SLAP.

"What the hell was that for?" I shriek and pick up the pillow that Caroline just threw at my face.

"Can you be serious for like, 5 minutes!" She shouts back.

"I am being serious!"

"No you're not! God Elena, you have to be one of the least serious people I've ever met!"

"And you have to be the biggest bitch I've ever met!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

Caroline and I sit with our arms folded over our chests as we stare daggers at the TV screen. Around 2 minutes later, we both cave.

"I'm sorry." "I'm sorry."

We both laugh lightly and I stand up from the floor to sit next to Caroline on the couch.

"I love you Elena." Caroline cries and hugs me tightly.

"I love you too."

"You're my best friend." She mumbles into my shoulder.

"You're my best friend too."

"I like Damon."

"I like Damon too- DAMNIT!"

"Yes!" Caroline laughs and points a finger in my direction. "You admitted it!"

"No! You tricked me! You're a tricker!"

"I did no such thing." Caroline says calmly and goes back to concentrating on the TV.

"This isn't over Caroline." I whisper in her ear creepily and follow her gaze to the shitty 'romance' movie currently playing.

XXX

Entering the building of Salvatore Architectural studios, I suddenly begin to feel extremely self-conscious. Dressed in causal jeans and a _guns 'n roses _T-shirt, I ignore the stares I get from the people on the ground floor dressed in fancy suits and dresses that probably cost the same amount as my whole apartment.

"Excuse me." I say to the receptionist at the ground floor desk. "Could you point me in the direction of Damon Salvatore's office please?"

She stops writing something on the piece of paper in front of her and looks up at me. Her eyes roam over my choice of attire with disgust before she finally meets my eyes.

"Do you have an appointment with Mr Salvatore?" She asks lazily.

"…No."

"Then I'm afraid I can't help you." She says with a bored tone and shoos me away with her hand. _Rude._

"Look…" I look down at her nametag. "Andie. Just let Damon know that I'm here, he'll tell you to let me through."

"_Mr Salvatore_ is extremely busy this morning and has asked not to be disturbed unless it's important."

"But this _is_ important!" I whisper-yell to her as to not draw any more unwanted attention to myself.

"I doubt that." She says with an eye-roll and I'm _this _close to jumping across her desk and choking her.

"Andie, call him." I say through gritted teeth.

"I can't help you." She repeats. "Now please leave before I call security to escort you from the premises."

"Yes, please _do _call security. And why you're at it, why don't you call _Damon!_"

"Very well." She shrugs and picks up the phone receiver before pressing a few numbers. I smile triumphantly that I got my way but the smile immediately disappears from my face when I hear the next words that come out from her mouth.

"Can I have security to the ground floor please?"

"Oh, what!" I cry and stare daggers at a smug looking Andie.

Two Arnold Schwarzenegger look-alikes make their way over to the front desk I'm currently at and stare me down like I'm some kind of threat. _Me! _A petite 23 year old girl who sometimes isn't strong enough to even peel bananas, never mind be a threat to a multi-million dollar company.

"Could you please escort this lady out from the building?" Andie tells tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum.

"This is bullshit!" I yell and throw my hands up in the air frustrated.

"Is there a problem here?" I hear a new voice ask and turn around to see Damon making his way over to where I'm stood.

"There's no problem Mr Salvatore." Andie tells him, desire laced through her voice. "Security was just about to escort this lady from the building.

"What did you do?" Damon sighs and faces me.

"Me? I didn't do anything! I was just trying to see you and _she_ called security." I inform him and point my finger in Andie's direction.

"I'll take it from here Andie." Damon tells her.

"But Mr Salvatore-"

"That will be all." Damon grabs me lightly by the elbow and leads me towards an elevator. As I'm being partially dragged away by Damon, I turn around slightly to see Andie glaring at me evilly. I smile smugly and flip her off. Her mouth makes an O shape and she narrows her eyes.

"Stop pissing off my employees." Damon whispers in my ear and places his hand over the middle finger that I'm currently showing to Andie.

"Maybe you need to hire some new employees." I reply and cross my arms over my chest. Damon shakes his head and tries to hide the smile on his face. We enter the elevator and the doors close. I turn to face Damon and run my eyes up and down his suit-clad body.

"You're looking very dapper, _Mr Salvatore._" I tease.

"Why thank you, _Miss Gilbert._" He teases back and wiggles his eyebrows. The elevator doors open and Damon leads me down a long corridor until we reach the office at the end. Damon opens the door and holds his hand out.

"Ladies first."

"Such a gentleman." I smile and pat his cheek before walking into the _huge _office.

"Oh my God, this place is huge!" I squeal and walk around the spacious office. "It didn't look this big from the outside. It's just like the tardis!"

"What's the tardis?" He asks and sits down on his office chair.

"Seriously? You don't know what the tardis is? Doctor who?" Damon just shrugs his shoulders to signal that he has no idea what I'm talking about. "What did you do with your childhood?"

I sit down on the chair facing Damon's and grin widely at him which he returns.

"What did you need to see me for?" He asks. "Not that I mind of course." He adds on.

"Oh." I hold a finger out in front of him with one hand and reach into my jeans pocket with the other. I pull out a piece of paper that I folded up and placed in there and hand it to Damon.

"What's this?" He asks and takes the paper from my hands.

"It's from Alex. He drew it for you." I explain and watch as he unfolds the paper and smiles widely.

"Is that you?" He asks and points to another figure on the page.

"Yeah." I nod. "Alex always makes my eyes take up most of my face."

"Well you do have pretty big eyes." He says and looks up to meet my eyes.

"Is that an insult?"

"Actually, Elena, it is a complaint of the highest order."

"Oh. Well thank you." I smile.

"You know…" Damon looks down at the drawing again and smiles smugly. "We're holding hands."

"Yeah, I know. No matter how many times I try to explain to him, he still thinks that you're my boyfriend." I laugh and Damon chuckles too.

The door to Damon's office swings open and Caroline walks in while staring at a piece of paper in her hands.

"Damon, I don't understand this. According to these figures- Elena?"

"Hey Care." I smirk.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was just giving Damon something." I say and then look at the clock on Damon's office wall. "Actually, I should probably go back to work now."

I stand up from the chair and Damon does too.

"You don't have to go." Damon says and I hear a smudge of disappointment in his voice.

"I kinda do if I want to keep my job." I joke. "Actually Caroline, I wanted to ask you something too." I tell her. "Are you still coming to Mystic Falls with me on Friday to see Jeremy?"

"Oh, I'm sorry Elena. I don't think I can make it." She says apologetically and my shoulders slump in disappointment but I think I manage to cover it up well.

"It's okay. Never mind then." I fake smile. I say my goodbyes to an apologetic Caroline and a disappointed Damon and make my way to the ground floor again. I see Andie still sat at the receptionist desk and almost like she senses me, she looks up from her desk and straight at me. I wave to her and blow her a kiss before leaving the building and driving back to work.

XXX

Caroline's POV

"Man, I feel so bad." I groan and slump onto the chair previously occupied by Elena. Damon looks away from staring at the spot where Elena was just stood and clears his throat before sitting back down too.

"Why?"

_Time to put the plan into motion._

"I promised Elena that I would go to Virginia with her but I can't make it. She's been looking forward to this for so long." I sigh and run a hand through my hair.

"What's in Virginia?" He asks and pretends to sound disinterested but I don't buy his 'not interested' bullshit.

"Her brother. They haven't seen each other in so long. He goes to college there." I pretend to look upset for a moment before smiling widely suddenly and sitting up in my chair.

"Hey, why don't you go with her?" I say as if the idea has only just hit me.

"Me?"

"Yeah. I mean you two get along right? You've been friends for a while now."

"Would Elena want that?" He asks nervously.

"Yeah! I don't see why not. She has fun with you and I'm sure she'd rather go with someone other than me rather than on her own. Besides, it would be a lot safer if you were with her. You know, because of the Mason thing?" I whisper and Damon's eyes widen.

"You're right." He nods determinedly. "It would be safer."

I smile widely and fight the urge to clap my hands together excitedly.

"Great!" I push Damon's office phone closer to him and stand up from my chair. "Don't forget to call her."

I walk out from his office and as soon as I close the door behind me, I pat myself on the back. As soon as I saw Elena follow Damon into his office, the idea to get them to go to Virginia together hit me. An entire weekend – alone. These past few weeks, I've learnt that Damon has a huge thing for Elena and whether she'll admit it or not, I know she likes him too.

I think I might change my middle name to _Cupid_. Has a ring to it, doesn't it?

XXX

EPOV

Driving in my car back to work, I switch the radio on and flip through the stations.

"Crap."

"Urgh."

"God no!"

"I hate this song."

Eventually I give up looking for a song I like and switch the radio back off. My phone begins to ring in my jeans pocket and I lean up in my seat slightly so that I am able to pull it out from my pocket.

"Hello?" I answer and sit back down in my seat.

"_Hey, it's Damon."_

"What, miss me already?" I tease.

"_Oh please, I know _you're _the one missing _me_. I just thought that I'd be nice and save you the embarrassment of calling me yourself."_

"Thank you Damon. That was so sweet of you." I say sarcastically.

"_I know."_ He replies in a smug tone of voice.

"So, was there a reason that you called me or?..."

"_What are you wearing?"_ He whispers huskily into the phone and I end up swerving my car a little at the surprise.

"Seriously?" I shriek.

"_Oh relax would you? I just saw you 10 minutes ago, I know _exactly_ what you're wearing."_

"Damon! Did you just call to try and get me to crash my car or did you actually want something?"

"_You're driving while on the phone? Tut tut, Elena."_

"Okay, I'm hanging up now."

"_No wait."_ He says suddenly. "_I did actually call for a reason."_

"And that reason is?"

"_Caroline told me about how much you want to go to Virginia this weekend and I thought that I'd be the most _amazing_ friend ever and offer to come with you."_

"You… You want to come with me? To Virginia?" I whisper.

"_Yep. You can just buy me a gift to thank me now_. _Just not socks. Everyone always buys me socks." _He whines.

I don't reply back to Damon for a few moments and think about it. He wants to come with me to Dull town, Virginia to see my nerdy 19 year old brother?

"_Elena?"_ Damon says into the phone when I haven't said anything for at least a minute. "_You didn't crash, did you?_"

"No, no I'm still here." I say.

"_So? What do you say?"_ He asks.

"Yeah. Yes, thank you Damon." I grin.

"_Don't mention it_."

"I'll book the planes tickets when I get back to work?"

"_Plane tickets? No, we're not flying to Virginia_." He decides.

"Then, how will we get there?" I ask and scrunch my eyebrows together in confusion.

"_Road trip baby!"_

**A/N: I don't think that this is one of my best chapters. I've tried to update this story for the past few days but every time I hit a writer's block. **

**Next chapter will be Damon and Elena's road trip to Mystic Falls. Who knows what will happen – **_**wink.**_

**Thanks for reading and let me know what you think…**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Sorry I haven't updated this story in so long. I actually wrote this chapter yesterday and planned to upload it then, but I had some internet problems. GRR!**

**Anyway, here's part one of the road trip.**

EPOV

"Okay, so since we're going to be on the road for a while, I thought we could make some ground rules." Damon tells me that morning as we begin on our long car journey to Virginia.

"Okay, shoot."

"Rule number uno." He begins and holds up a finger in the air. ""No complaining about my music. I'm driving the car, therefore I choose the music."

"But what if you have crappy music taste?" I ask.

"Then I guess it sucks for you." He replies and shows me sarcastic grin.

"Fine." I huff. "Next?"

"Rule number deux." He holds up a second finger. "Every time we stop for gas or food, you should use the bathroom. I don't want any 'Damon, I need to pee,' when we're speeding down the highway in the middle of nowhere."

"Use the bathroom whenever it's available. Got it." I nod.

"Finally, rule number three." He holds up one more finger. "No asking 'are we there yet?' I swear to God, if those words even leave your mouth, I_ will_ tie you to the roof of the car." He warns me playfully and I pretend to scowl at him but end up smiling.

"Don't ask are we there yet – Check." I lean back into the passenger seat of Damon's blue Camaro and look through the window at the passing trees and cars. "You know, I don't understand why we couldn't have just flown to Virginia?"

"Where's the fun in that?" Damon scoffs and I roll my eyes. He leans over to turn the radio on and finds a station playing classic rock music.

"Who's your favourite band?" I ask him and he thinks it over for a few moments before speaking.

"Journey." He settles on.

"Journey? Really?"

"Excuse me, Taylor Swift number one fan." He grins.

"I don't even like Taylor Swift." I laugh.

"Okay then, who's your favourite band?"

"The Beatles." I tell him and watch as his eyebrows nearly disappear into his hairline.

"_You_ like the Beatles?"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I scoff.

"Nothing. It's just; you never fail to surprise me."

"That's good, right?"

"Yeah, definitely." He smiles. "I've never met anyone quiet like you, Elena."

XXX

"Wakey, wakey sleepy head." I hear someone say quietly and open my eyes to find Damon staring at me with a smirk on his face.

"Where are we?" I mumble tiredly as I slowly sit up in my chair and look outside the window.

"We're about 5 hours outside of Virginia." He informs me. "I thought we could get something to eat."

"Wait- we're 5 hours outside of Virginia?" I ask and watch as he nods his head. "I've been asleep for over an hour, why didn't you wake me up?"

"You looked tired." He shrugs. "Now come on, what were you dreaming about? It was about me, wasn't it? Explains the drool."

"Shut up." I laugh and hit him on the arm. I stretch my arms above my head to try and soothe the kinks in my back created by sleeping in the passenger seat of a car and feel my shirt ride up a little at the bottom. I ignore Damon's eyes on me and let out a loud yawn.

"Come on, let's go eat." Damon tells me in a slightly rough voice and exits the car, running around to my side to open the door for me.

"Such a gentleman." I tease and as I go to pat his cheek, he tries to bite my finger making us both smile.

We enter the diner and sit in the first available booth, picking up the menu and making light chatter.

"Hi, I'm Kelly and I'll be your waitress today." A young blonde girl chewing gum loudly says tiredly as she walks over to us, staring at the small notebook in her hand used for taking orders.

"Hello Kelly. What a beautiful name." Damon says in a sultry tone making Kelly look up from her notebook and meeting Damon's eyes, blushing lightly.

"Thanks." She smiles and twirls a piece of long blonde hair around her finger. "My mother always said that it suited me."

"Then your mother is a very wise woman." Damon winks making Kelly let out an extremely high pitched giggle and pushes her big fake boobs in Damon's face.

I let out an awkward cough making Kelly finally look at me for the first time, her playful smile immediately dropping and her eyes run up and down over me.

"Oh yeah, what can I get you?" She sighs to me and I raise an eyebrow at Damon.

"I'll take coffee and pancakes, please." I say politely and hand her the menu that she nearly snatches from my grip.

"What about you?" She asks sweetly to Damon and I roll my eyes which makes Damon supress a smile.

"I'll have the same." He tells her and hands her the menu, her fingers gliding over Damon's before she finally takes the menu from his hand.

"Coming right up." She winks before turning on her heel and walking away, an extra sway in her hips.

"Wow, what a bitch." I deadpan as I watch her walk away.

"What?" Damon laughs. "She didn't do anything."

"Oh please, she was totally flirting with you right in front of me. I could be your girlfriend for all she knows."

"But you not." He points out with a side smirk and a raised eyebrow.

"I know that. But she doesn't."

"Elena, are you jealous?" He asks smugly.

"No." I scoff. "Don't be ridiculous."

"You sound jealous to me."

"Well I'm not."

"It's okay, you know? I'm hot, I get it."

"Damon-"

"I don't blame you if you're jealous."

"Damon. Shush." I whisper and place a finger over his lips to shut him up.

He continues to tease me for the next few minutes before Kelly comes back with our coffee and pancakes.

"Here you go." She announces as she places the food down on the table.

"Thank you so much Kelly." Damon tells her while looking at me. I kick him under the table and also thank Kelly which I don't think she hears due to how busy she is drooling over Damon.

"Just holler if you need anything." She tells _him_ before walking away. I shake my head and pick up my coffee, adding a little milk and ignoring Damon's stare.

"Jealous." He whispers and when I go to glare at him, I find him biting his lip and looking down at his pancakes innocently.

He's such a dick.

XXX

"Okay, favourite movie?"

"The Godfather."

"Oh come on!" I laugh. "I don't understand the big hype with that movie."

"Are you kidding me? That movie is pure genius."

"Well, I disagree."

"Okay then, what's yours?"

"Titanic."

"That's one of the movies that I've never seen." He shrugs and I gawk at him.

"Stop the car."

"What?"

"Stop the car. I can't even look at you right now."

"What are you talking about?" Damon laughs.

"How could you never have seen titanic?"

"Easily - By just _not _watching it."

"Don't get smart with me, Salvatore." I warn playfully and Damon rolls his eyes.

"Your turn."

"Okay, what's your biggest fear?" I ask.

"Oh please, I'm a man. I don't have any fears." Damon scoffs.

"Everyone has fears!" I chuckle. "Stop being so manly and tell me what your scared of most."

"Nothing." He mumbles.

"Damon, don't be embarrassed. Just tell me." I encourage but Damon keeps quiet. "Okay, if I guess it right, you have to tell me."

"Deal."

"Spiders?"

"Nope."

"Snakes?" I question.

"No." He shakes his head.

"Oh, I know. Commitment."

"Commitment? Why would I be scared of commitment?"

"Because you're a guy." I say in a duh tone. "All guys are scared of commitment."

"Not me." He shrugs.

"That's bullshit. I know all about your womanising reputation." I comment.

"I'm not scared of commitment, Elena." He stresses and turns to look at me. "I'm just waiting for the right woman to commit too."

I raise an eyebrow at him and he shows a small smile before concentrating back on the road again.

"Clowns?"

"No. I'm not scared of clowns."

"Heights?"

"No." He shakes his head but I see his grip tighten a little on the steering wheel.

"Oh my God! You're scared of heights!"

"I'm not scared of heights." He defends. I watch him for a moment before suddenly everything clicks together and I point at him with a finger.

"You're scared of flying, aren't you? That's why you wanted to drive to Virginia instead of fly there."

"Fine." He sighs. "You got me. Damon Salvatore is scared of planes."

"Aww, that's cute." I tease and watches as he glares at me. "You didn't have to come with me, you know? I could have gone to Virginia by myself."

"Elena, I thought you would be a little happier that you have a whole weekend of my company." He grins.

"No, I am. I'm grateful that you offered to come with me."

"Then shut up." He smirks and I try to scowl at him but end up smiling.

"Your turn." I tell him.

"If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would it be?"

"London."

"London? Why?" He asks.

"I don't know, there's just something about London that draws me in. I always see it in movies and every time it looks amazing, there's just so much history there. Plus, there's a chance that I could meet a member of the Royal family and marry a prince."

"Of course." Damon mutters sarcastically. "I'll take you one day."

"You'll take me to London?" I laugh.

"Yeah! Why not?"

"Because you just said that you're scared of flying for one." I point out and watch as he rolls his eyes.

"Well, I'll face my fear for you." He smiles genuinely and I feel my cheeks heat up a little.

"Okay." I nod. "Deal."

"Deal."

XXX

By the time Damon and I reach Virginia, we had been on the road for a total of 15 hours. We pull up to the first motel we see and enter the small check-in office to be able to get a room for the night.

"Hello!" I call out and press the small bell at the reception desk.

"Well hello there." A man in his late 40s greets as he steps around the corner. "What can I do for you?"

"We'd like a room, please." Damon tells him politely and the man nods his head as he pulls a small registers book out from behind the counter.

"Can I take your name?"

"Damon Salvatore."

The man writes Damon's name down in the notebook and asks for ID which makes Damon hand him his driver's license.

"Alright, I've put you two in the honeymoon suite." He says as he hands Damon his license back.

"Why?" I laugh.

"You two are a couple, aren't you?"

"Yep." Damon nods and wraps a hand around my waist, pulling me closer as he looks down at me. "Isn't that right, baby?"

"…Yeah. We're a couple." I give Damon a sceptical look before looking back at the middle-aged man and smiling.

"Okay then. Here's your room key. Have a great stay." He says as he hands us the motel key before disappearing back around the corner.

"What was that?" I ask Damon as we make our way to the 'honeymoon suite'.

"What was what?"

"Why did you say we were together, _baby_?" I question with a raised eyebrow.

"Relax, Elena." Damon chuckles. "The honeymoon suites are the best rooms in these stupid motels. If you let me pay for us to stay in a hotel like I suggested, we wouldn't have this problem."

"I told you that I can't afford to stay in a real hotel right now."

"And I told you that I would pay for everything." He sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I don't want your money, Damon. You know that."

"You can be pretty damn stubborn, Elena. Did _you_ know that?" He argues as he inserts the room key in the lock and opens the door. I roll my eyes and ignore his comment, stepping past him into the room and almost bursting out laughing at the huge heart shaped bed covered in rose petals in the middle of the room.

"Aww, how romantic." I tease and turn to look at Damon who's wearing a look of disgust on his face.

"How do people even sleep in these things?" He asks rhetorically as he sits down on the bed and brushes the petals onto the floor.

"I don't think people in this room do much sleeping." I mutter. "We are in the _honeymoon suite."_

"Well, it would be such a shame to ruin a tradition." Damon smirks before standing up and grabbing me by the waist, throwing me over his shoulder.

"Damon!" I laugh. "Put me down."

"Okay." He replies and gently throws me down on the bed before jumping on top of me.

"Get off me." I squeal and push him away by his shoulders.

"I'll go and grab our bags from the car." He says softly as he moves a piece of hair from my face and tucks it behind my ear. "Why don't you go and take a shower. You're starting to stink."

"Gee, thanks." I mumble. "You're so sweet."

"You're welcome." He smirks before standing up and leaving the motel room.

I smile to myself before standing up, entering the bathroom and switching the light on. I scoff at the sight of a heart shaped bath and head straight for the shower, turning the nozzle on and placing my hand underneath the water flow to feel the temperature of the water. Once I'm satisfied that it's hot enough, I remove my clothes and hop inside the cubicle, revealing in the feeling of the hot water against my skin. Being trapped in a car all day does horrible things to your muscles.

I quickly wash my body with the cheap shower gel inside the cubicle before getting out and drying myself on a towel.

"Shit." I curse to myself when I remember that my bags are with Damon.

"Damon." I call through the bathroom door.

"Yeah?" I hear a muffled reply.

"Can you pass me my bag?" I ask and hear him laugh before I hear movement.

I open the door slightly and stick my hand out. Damon places my bag in my hand and I thank him before closing the door again. I slip into clean underwear before pulling out a pair of shorts and a strappy camisole T-shirt, sliding them on. I brush my teeth and hair before tying it up quickly into a messy bun. I place all of my things back into my bag and open the bathroom door.

"Okay, shower's all yours-"

I find Damon passed out on one side of the bed, his shoes still on. I chuckle to myself before walking over to him, gently pulling his shoes off and placing them neatly at the bottom of the bed. I pull the red sheets on the bed back and cover Damon up with them before sliding into my side of the bed and letting sleep take over me.

**A/N: Thanks for reading. The next chapter will consist of part 2 of the road trip where Damon will meet Jeremy.**

**Let me know what you think.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: What's this? An update? *Faints with shock***

EPOV

I wake up to the sound of the shower running and Damon's side of the bed empty. I rub my eyes with the balls of my hands and roll over to see the time. _08:46._

Damon and I are only meeting up with Jeremy in the afternoon. That gives us some time to kill. I'm a little nervous about Damon meeting Jere for the first time, because I know how protective Jeremy is of me. After the horrible ending to my relationship with Mason, Jeremy was _this _close to dropping out of college and moving to Chicago to make sure no member of the male species got within 100 feet of me again. When he sees Damon for the first time, I know that he's going to freak the fuck out. But strangely, after just 2 months of knowing Damon, I trust him not to hurt me. Hell, I trust him full stop, and that scares me a little. I promised myself not to trust any guy again and Damon managed to creep up on me and chisel away at all my walls.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty."

Speaking of the devil, his voice interrupts me from my thoughts and I turn my head to the side to see him exit the bathroom in a towel.

…And nothing _but_ a towel.

_Holy. Shit._

I run my eyes over his perfectly sculptured chest and watch as a water droplet runs down his chest and disappears into his towel.

"Seriously?" I groan in a slightly high pitched voice. "It's like you're photo-shopped."

"Get used to it, baby," He winks, strolling over to the side of the motel room to grab his bag. He pulls out some clothes and gives me his signature smirk before disappearing back in the bathroom again.

I stretch out my body and make baby dinosaur noises before swinging my legs over to bed and sitting up. Smacking my dry lips together, I check my phone and find a text message from my brother.

'_**Hey, can't wait to see you today! Meeting in our usual place?' **_

I hit reply immediately and send a message back to Jeremy, biting my lip as I type.

'_Yeah, I'll see you there about 1? Oh, and I'm bringing a friend along with me.'_

There, I've said it. His reply is instant.

'_**1 is fine. A friend? Caroline?'**_

'_No, this friend is a bit more… manlier than Caroline.'_

I have to wait a few minutes before he texts me back.

'_**Elena, please tell me that you're not bringing a guy with you.'**_

'_I'm not bringing a guy with me.'_

'_BTW, I'm totally lying to you.'_

'_**ELENA!'**_

'_Relax, Jeremy. You'll like him I promise. He's funny.'_

'_**Is he gay?'**_

'_No?...'_

'_**Then I won't like him.'**_

'_Oh, stop being so difficult.'_

'_**Stop being so stupid! Have you learnt nothing from Mason? Guys are not nice, Elena.'**_

'_Last time I checked you were a guy, Jere. Shouldn't you be sticking up for your kind?'_

'_**I would if were anybody else but you. Seriously, I don't want to meet this guy.'**_

'_**Actually… no wait, yeah I do!'**_

'… _**Think I could take him?'**_

'_I don't think so, bro.'_

'_**Damn, I'll have to bring reinforcements.'**_

'_I don't think Anna could take him, either. Although she is stronger than you…'_

'_**I'm not talking about my girlfriend, idiot!'**_

'_Calm down, doofus, I'll see to you later. Love you!'_

'_**Love you too, stupid.'**_

'_Dick.'_

'_**Bitch.'**_

Ahh, sibling love.

"What are you smiling about over there?" Damon asks, stepping out of the bathroom – fully clothed this time.

"Just talking with my brother," I tell him, holding up my phone in one hand. "He wanted to know if he could take you in a fight."

"Ahh." He nods. "I take it he's not ecstatic to meet me?"

"You would be right." I say patting him on the head as I walk past him and to the bathroom to get ready for the day.

XXX

"Stop fidgeting." Damon scolds me as we wait for my brother to show up. We're sitting at a table in _Denny's_, the ice-cream parlour Jeremy and I both love, and my brother is currently nearly 10 minutes late.

"I can't help it." I whine. "I'm nervous."

"Why?"

"Because my brother might kill you."

"I think I'll be okay, 'Lena." Damon laughs, clearly making fun of me.

"Yeah, laugh it up, Chuckles. We'll see how funny you find it when you're six feet under."

The little bell above the door rings, signalling someone entering and I immediately recognise the mess of brown hair as my baby brother's. This is it.

"Okay, stand behind me," I whisper to Damon as we both stand up from the table. "And whatever you do, don't maintain eye contact for too long. That will guarantee to set him off."

"Elena, we're meeting a person. Not a rhino." He deadpans but I just shush him and put a smile on my face.

My brother does not look happy. He's wearing a frown on his face and his eyes are narrowed into slits. He cautiously strides over to me, puffing his chest out to make himself seem bigger than he acting is. I roll my eyes.

"Jeremy!" I say excitedly as I pull him into a hug when he approaches us and I can feel him flexing underneath me as if ready for a fight. I pinch his side and he yelps quietly before relaxing and pulling away from the hug.

"Jere, this is-"

"Damon Salvatore! Holy shit." He finished for me, a look of awe on his face as he stares at the man next to me.

"You… know who Damon is?" I ask, stepping back and next to Damon once more, only to find that he looks just as confused as I do.

"Know who he is? This guy is my freaking idol!" He beams, taking a giant step closer and pushing me out of the way, taking one of Damon's hands in both of his and moving it up and down in an eager handshake.

"Mr Salvatore, it is a pleasure to meet you." He says a wide grin still on his face.

"Erm, yeah. Hey," Damon replies, his eyebrows furrowed. "Have we met before, or…"

"Oh, no. But I'm studying architecture at college right now and you've come up a few times in lectures. Your work is amazing." He tells him before turning to me once again. "Elena, you didn't tell me that you knew Damon Salvatore." He says in a slight whisper.

"Well I do." I mutter, still fascinated with how weird my brother is. I finally realise that Jeremy is still rapidly shaking Damon's hands and clear my throat. "Um, Jere…"

"Right," he stutters, dropping Damon's hand like fire. "I'm going to go get a drink real quick." He says pointing behind him to the counter. "You guys want anything? No, okay."

Damon and I stand side by side in silence as Jeremy departs before a few chuckles escape from my mouth.

"What?" Damon asks with a huge smile on his face.

"Nothing." I say with a shake of my head. "It's just; I was so scared that he was going want to kill you and the guy's practically in love with you."

"What can I say?" He shrugs. "I'm a wanted man."

"You're a _cocky_ man." I mumble, taking a seat at the table Damon and I were previously. He sits down next to me and leans over to whisper in my ear.

"Trust me, Elena. I have _every _reason to be cocky." He says in a low tone, his breath hot against the side of my neck and I can feel myself becoming flushed.

"Stop it." I scold.

"Stop what?" He says innocently, leaning back in his chair and lazily wrapping an arm around my shoulders.

"You know what."

He opens his mouth to reply but gets cut off by the chair opposite us scraping along the floor and Jeremy flopping himself down into it, a can of coke in his hand.

"So," he begins. "Where did you meet my sister?"

"I met her at a party."

"A party?" He paraphrases before bursting out laughing. "Good one. Where did you really meet her?"

"He met me at a party, Jeremy." I repeat with a hint of frustration in my voice. "I'm not that boring."

"That's a matter of opinion."

"You're a matter of opinion!"

"…That made no sense, Elena."

"It made _perfect _sense!"

"Why are you friends with her?" My brother whispers across the table to Damon, too stupid to realise that I can actually hear him.

"I don't know." Damon whispers back as he grins in my direction while I glare at him.

"I hate you both." I mumble, taking my brother's coke from right under his nose and drinking from it.

"So," Damon begins and he leans back in his chair once again. "You're Elena's brother. Know any embarrassing stories about her?"

"Oh yeah!" Jeremy nods eagerly while I scream a loud "NO!"

"You'll love this one," He begins chuckling a few times and has to stop himself before he even starts to tell the story. "When Elena was 15, she really liked this guy Luka who was in her history class. She came home from school one day in a really happy mood and told our parents that her and Luka were partnered up for a history project."

"Oh God, I hate this story." I groan.

"Shush." Damon scolds me before going back to listening to Jeremy, his elbows rested on the table and his face resting in the palms of his hands. He reminds me of how a little kid would sit during story time. Although, Damon was basically a big kid, so it kinda made sense…

"So he came round later that night and set up camp in the living room while my mom and I were in the kitchen. About an hour after he arrived, my mom and I heard Luka telling Elena that he really liked her and wanted her to be his girlfriend. We both peeked around the corner to see what her reaction would be and at that exact moment, she threw up all over him."

Jeremy and Damon both burst out in laughter while I sink back into my seat, my cheeks becoming slightly red at the memory of it.

"It was the funniest thing ever!" Jeremy continues. "The look on Luka's face was hilarious. He didn't even say anything after that. He just slowly stood up, collected his history book from the coffee table and left."

"In my defence, I only threw up because I was so nervous, okay, stop laughing at me! He never even spoke to me again after that."

"Probably because he was scared you might bring up last night's dinner on him again!" Damon laughs loudly, his eyes becoming slightly wet with tears.

"I hate my life." I mutter under my breath before excusing myself to go to the bathroom, the two laughing hyenas not even sparing me a glance, too busy with insulting my nervous habits.

I enter the women's bathrooms with a slight smile on my face. Damon meeting Jeremy for the first time is going better than I ever could have imagined. I suppose Jeremy practically being in love with Damon might have something to do with it, but still, I came to Virginia excepting fights and name calling. Maybe this whole friendship thing is good for me?


End file.
